Extra large size - how much? Fraud on an especially large scale (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

The Criminal Code has a concept of especially large size. This definition is found in many articles, and its presence in the case does not bode well. To determine what punishment is provided for a crime in which there is a size of objects, it is necessary to answer the question of how much an especially large size is. The answer to this depends on which article is being considered.

As a rule, this term is used in legal practice. In ordinary life people don't talk like that. Determining the size of the object of a crime allows you to assign a punishment appropriate to the act. Therefore, the law has strict distinctions: significant size, large size and especially large size.

Fraud

The Criminal Code has several categories of crimes that involve theft. Only the conditions under which this act was committed differ.

The theft of the victim's property, if there was deception or the owner trusted the criminal too much, is classified as a criminal activity only if it is proven that the actions were deliberate, that is, the person who committed it had intent. If the evidence, as they say, is available, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation considers a crime under Article 159 - fraud.

Punishment for violating this law is assigned based on the size of the stolen property, which can be: ordinary (in the Criminal Code - significant), large (one and a half million rubles or more) and especially large (six million rubles or more).

The concept of "fraud"

Fraud is the theft of someone else's property through deception or breach of trust . When committing fraud, the victim is misled to achieve selfish goals. Deception may consist in the conscious provision by criminals of false information that does not correspond to reality.

Example: Often, under the guise of medicine, door-to-door distributors sell elderly people dietary supplements or even “dummies” consisting of sugar or other substances that do not have any therapeutic effect.

Now that you understand the difference between theft (broad concept), theft (narrow) and fraud (narrow) - we can talk about the amount of damage in this case, but a large amount.

Amendments to Article 159

In addition, significant additions were made to the article in 2015, which make it possible to distinguish between fraud in different areas of life:

• Lending.
• Insurance.
• Receiving payments.
• Computer information.
• Plastic payment cards.
• Entrepreneurial activity.

The larger the conditional amount, the more difficult the punishment. The most dangerous, from a social point of view, fraud on a particularly large scale (in any area), committed by an organized group. The law provides for punishment for such a crime in the form of a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles and a real term in a colony of up to 10 years.

What responsibilities are provided?

The amount of punishment for large-scale fraud is expressed in penalties, which are provided in the range from 100 to 500 thousand rubles. The perpetrator can also be imprisoned for up to six years. The punishment, at the discretion of the judge, is expressed in the amount of the offender’s income - this can be the amount of total income the offender receives over a period of one to three years. Compulsory labor is applicable, the duration of which cannot exceed five years.

Theft on a large scale is punishable by a fine ranging from 100 to 500 thousand rubles. The amount can also be calculated based on how much income the culprit receives over a period of one to three years. Or the offender is imprisoned for a maximum of six years.

For misappropriation or embezzlement, a fine of 100 to 500 thousand rubles is imposed; the culprit may be deprived of the right to engage in a certain activity or position. This measure is applied at the discretion of the court. Forced labor for up to 5 years or imprisonment for 6 years may also be applied.

Theft

Theft is the theft of property owned by another person by secretly committing unlawful acts against the owner of the property. The punishment for this crime is provided for in Article 158 (theft). Here it is also necessary to distinguish between the size of the stolen property, the types of theft and the categories of persons who violated the law in order to determine the type of punishment. Amount of criminal activity in monetary terms: large – 250 thousand rubles. and above, especially large – 1 million rubles. and more than that.

The most severe punishment exists for an organized group that has committed a crime such as theft on an especially large scale - a fine of up to 1 million rubles and up to 10 years in prison.

The Administrative Code also contains the concept of theft, but on a small scale – up to one thousand rubles. Such a violation of the law is provided for in Article 7.27.

The concepts of “theft” and “theft”

“Large amount of theft” is not the same for different articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. For example, for theft it is 250,000, and for lending fraud it is 1,500,0000. There are other differences. But to understand them, let's first briefly understand the definitions.

Theft is the illegal gratuitous seizure of someone else's property for selfish purposes . Theft is a broad concept. There are several forms of this act - for example:

1. robbery;
2. theft;
3. robbery;
4. fraud.

We talk in more detail about the concept of “theft”, its characteristics and types in a separate material, and you will find out what forms and types of theft are defined in criminal law here.

The purpose of theft is always property - property that has value and is a thing.

Features:

• complex nature;
• illegality;
• gratuitousness;
• material losses for the victim;
• selfish goal.

Theft is the secret theft of someone else's property. Theft is a type of theft. This crime is described in detail in Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. People simply call this theft. A distinctive feature of this crime is mystery.

Theft can be committed by one person or by a group . Sometimes third parties take part in the theft - without understanding what is really happening and without realizing that they are assisting in the crime.

Example: in an apartment building, neighbors live on the same site on the ground floor. One day, a resident of one of the apartments calls the neighboring one, asking for access to an outlet in order to connect an extension cord. He explains this request by saying that he lost his keys, there was an angle grinder in the car, and he decided to cut off the bars on the windows to get into his home.

The unsuspecting neighbor allows it. As a result, it turns out that this was a tenant who was evicted by the owner of the apartment for non-payment of rent. Thus, the former tenant decided to both take revenge and “cash in.” All valuable items were taken out of the apartment - everything that could be sold or taken to a pawnshop was stolen.

Based on the above, we see that the concept of “theft” is only part of the concept of “theft”. Theft is a broader concept, theft is a narrower one. This is important for understanding the size, since it is in Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Theft, that the definition of a large amount is given, which is fundamental for most other articles related to theft, but not for all. Namely, the amounts for fraud will be different.

We talked in detail about how Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regulates punishment for various types of theft, from theft to fraud, and from this material you will learn what the differences are between theft and theft.

From our separate publications you can also learn about what is called the theft of items of special value, as well as how to correctly draw up an act of theft.

Robbery

Robbery is the theft of property that belongs to the victim in an open manner using violence that is not dangerous to health. Since this type of crime closely borders on theft and robbery, it is important to clearly distinguish between them. If theft is a crime directed only at property, it does not affect the health and life of the property owner, then robbery implies slightly different actions.

During a robbery, threats, tying, leaving in a closed area, etc. are possible, that is, actions take place that do not threaten health, but can negatively affect it. Such consequences may include abrasions, scratches, bruises or mild depression. This condition can be classified as minor harm to health.

Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation clearly defines the amount of stolen property in monetary terms: large amount - not less than 250 thousand, especially large amount - more than 1 million rubles. The theft of property worth more than 1 million rubles, which is committed by an organized group, is punishable by a real sentence of up to 12 years.

How is damage determined?

The actual value of lost or damaged property is determined at the time the crime was committed based on the national currency exchange rate. In the absence of a fixed value of the property, the price is given by independent experts. If we are talking about the cost of works of art or science, then the expert opinion should reflect not only the cost, for example, of a painting in monetary terms, but also its importance, significance for the culture of society and the spiritual development of society.

Restriction, prevention or elimination of competition in Article 178 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The damage that must be compensated is always calculated based on the value of the property at the time the court makes the decision on compensation. At the time of execution of the sentence, additional indexation may be provided.

If disputes arise between the participants in the process about the correctness of this damage assessment, you can always invite independent appraisers from uninterested organizations who will conduct the assessment in accordance with the established law. The question in this case will be who will pay for the services of independent appraisers, because private firms require payment, and government appraisers do it for free.

It should be noted that if a robbery or robbery takes place, the victim may suffer not only material losses, but also the costs of treating physical injuries that accompany the commission of a crime. That is why the victim has the right to add to the amount of lost property the funds spent on treatment, this will be considered the total amount of losses under Articles 161 and 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Also read: The concept and signs of theft of someone else's property

If a citizen has committed crimes in the aggregate, then the damage is determined based on the amount that the attacker took possession of in the process of committing a separate episode, and not in the aggregate. For example, a bandit in a dark alley first committed a robbery, seizing 6 thousand rubles from a citizen, and the next day he will carry out a robbery against another person in the amount of 20 thousand. Damage will be calculated based on the losses of each victim.

In the case of a continuous crime, all damage is taken into account, regardless of the type of violation committed and the number of episodes. For example: when an organized group is engaged in robbing banks and financial institutions, the damage will be determined in aggregate, and not for each bank separately.

Dividing the material consequences of a crime into types in monetary terms helps the judge to administer justice as honestly as possible. A thief who stole 5 thousand rubles cannot be punished in the same way as an official who embezzled 5 million. The Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to a fair trial and fair punishment, which is why the primary task of judges is a detailed study of the materials and circumstances of the case.

The legislator provides for the release from liability of criminals who, before the trial, fully compensate for the damage suffered by the victim, and deposit into the state account an amount five times the amount of the fixed loss. For some, the amount of such atonement to the state is unbearable, but everyone must answer for their illegal actions, if not by being in a colony and the stigma of a criminal record, then by material costs.

Robbery

This is the theft of the victim’s property with the use of violence, which causes (or may cause) harm to health. Such actions include, for example, holding the victim under water, suffocation, etc. A mandatory sign of robbery is the presence of weapons or objects similar to weapons or the ability to use them as such.

During the commission of a crime, there may be threats of its use. The characteristic factor that determines a crime such as robbery is not the theft of property itself, but an attack with the purpose of theft. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation denotes a particularly large amount in the form of an amount of over 1 million rubles. Those convicted under Article 162 serve a sentence of at least 15 years in a strict or special regime colony (recidivism).

Document overview

The rules establishing criminal liability for intentional destruction or damage to property were contested.

According to the petitioner, these provisions are unconstitutional.

The reason is that the regulations do not establish the exact amount of significant damage in monetary terms that entails such liability. There are also no established criteria to determine it.

This circumstance entails unlimited discretion of the court when qualifying the offense according to these norms of criminal law.

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation rejected these arguments and explained the following.

Any crime, as well as the punishment for its commission, must be clearly defined in law.

Moreover, this should be done in such a way that, based directly on the text of the relevant norm (and, if necessary, with the help of the interpretation given by the courts), everyone can foresee the criminal legal consequences of their actions (inaction).

The imprecision, ambiguity and uncertainty of the law give rise to the possibility of ambiguous interpretation and, consequently, its arbitrary application.

However, this does not mean that when formulating the requirements of such a law, evaluative or generally accepted concepts (categories) cannot be used.

The contested norms provide that causing significant damage is a mandatory sign of the objective side of the crime. This makes it possible to distinguish the latter from a similar administrative offense.

Due to the notes that apply to the above-mentioned composition, significant damage to a citizen is determined taking into account his property status, but cannot be less than the established amount.

According to the explanations of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, one should proceed from the value of the destroyed property (its restoration), the significance of the latter for the victim (for example, depending on the type of his activity and financial situation).

Taking this into account, the rules do not create such uncertainty that would allow them to be arbitrarily applied in practice.

To view the current text of the document and obtain complete information about the entry into force, changes and procedure for applying the document, use the search in the Internet version of the GARANT system:

Narcotic substances

Trafficking in narcotic drugs is punishable by law. This includes drugs that have psychotropic and intoxicating effects, as well as any derivatives from them. When withdrawing funds that are absolutely prohibited for use, production and storage, any quantity will be considered large.

The list of narcotic and similar substances contains more than 60 items, each of which has its own limit. According to this list and Article 228, an especially large amount is the amount of a prohibited substance that can be legally possessed by persons, over 0.0001 grams. Such drugs include:

• bromamphetamine;
• DOET (dimethoxyethylamphetamine);
• LSD and LSD-25;
• desomorphine and others.

As a rule, for other narcotic drugs the size is considered large if the amount of the detected substance is more than 1 gram.

Theft on an especially large scale

1. Theft is expressed exclusively in the theft of other people's property. It is impossible to steal from yourself; there is no corpus delicti. It is also impossible to take your item secretly from other persons; this is not theft. In this case, punishment is also possible, but under a different article;
2. The stolen property must be of some value. A good example is a stolen bank card that has no money on it and has long expired. In this case, it has no value, so no punishment will follow;
3. The theft of property must be illegal, that is, the thief must not have any rights to it (not just as the owner). A good example is jointly acquired property. If the spouses separated and stopped living together, and the husband arbitrarily, in the absence of his wife, took a TV set purchased many years ago with money given to him for his anniversary, then this action will not be qualified as theft;
4. People are held criminally liable for theft only if it was secret, that is, no one knew about it. Neither witnesses, nor the owner or other interested parties. The theft will be secret even if it was committed in the presence of persons from whom the thief did not expect resistance (for example, his relatives) or in the presence of people who did not realize that a theft was taking place before their eyes (the theft of an object of art from an exhibition pavilion under the guise of a museum piece). employee).

Crime size

In addition to the above articles, there are others in the Criminal Code. But these are the most common. There are positions on the size of such crimes as particularly large bribes, theft of valuable items and other provisions of the code.

The size of the crime is assessed by experts and is subject to qualification, since determining the amount “by eye” is unacceptable. As for the limit amounts, the court considers cases based on related factors - aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

Reason for amendment

Since additions to Article 159 were introduced this year, it is necessary to consider the prerequisites and consequences of these innovations.

The main reason for the amendments was the practice of initiating criminal cases without statements from the victim. The police's actions in this regard have become so unlawful that the government has decided to limit some of their duties. Now, cases of any type of criminal activity, especially if fraud has been committed on a particularly large scale, will not be initiated without a statement from the victim, even if the crime is obvious.

Previous practice was not selective, and cases were fabricated at the request of third parties or even law enforcement officials. True, criminal punishment is also provided for this, regardless of the fabricated case. In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, one can take as a basis articles 299 to 303 - responsibility for illegal attraction, release and falsification.

Many victims, before contacting the police, doubt whether it is worth doing this, since the size may not correspond to the intended punishment. In this case, a natural question arises: how much is large and especially large size? Perhaps the answer to this question determines whether a person will report fraud or not.

As for the areas of crime, here the government distinguishes several categories, which were mentioned earlier. The new law has increased the size of the crime for which punishment follows. If previously a large amount of fraud was considered to be 250 thousand, and Article 159 determined a particularly large amount to be 1 million rubles, now significant figures have changed (1.5 million and 6 million rubles, respectively).

What is considered major damage?

Large amount of damage is an assessment category that was introduced in order to be able to measure the harm caused to a person as a result of an offense.
The concept under consideration influences the punishment applied to the perpetrator. If the court considers a case of theft, robbery or other types of criminal acts directed against property, this qualifying feature is taken into account. When a person has stolen several items, their value for imposing punishment will be calculated in total.

Important! If we are talking about ongoing or continuing acts, all property that was stolen during a certain period of time will be taken into account.

In order to assess the damage caused when not only money is stolen, but also art objects of value, an examination must be carried out.

The state, in the chapter of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regulating punishment for committing crimes against property, indicates that a large amount is an amount exceeding 250 thousand rubles (indicated in the note to Article 158 of the Criminal Code). It is worth noting that the code contains a clause according to which major damage is equal to 1.5 million rubles. This provision applies to the situation when we are talking about acts committed in the area of:

• entrepreneurship;
• insurance;
• credit fraud;
• using cards with payment purposes;
• computer technologies.

Large amounts are also mentioned in other provisions of criminal law; this applies to acts committed in the economic sphere. It is established that the damage in question is at least 1.5 million rubles. When it comes to restricting competition, damage exceeding 10 million rubles is considered major.

Death of the victim under Article 159

There are often cases where, to conceal a crime under Article 159, other, no less serious crimes are committed. This could be an act under Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part 2, paragraph “k”: murder committed with the sole purpose of concealing the fact of fraud.

In this case, if the victim (corpse) was the person against whom the fraud was committed, the question arises of who will file the complaint. After all, according to the new rules, only the victim can report. In such situations, a relative may be recognized as a victim. And it depends on him whether the persons who committed criminal acts will be convicted only under Article 105, or under all articles, including Art. 159. The particularly large size of the crime or other parameters do not matter here.

In what amounts is the amount of damage expressed?

Causing harm or theft of property exceeding 250 thousand is a large sum for the victim.

For Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, significant damage is considered to be theft of an amount of more than 5 thousand. Solid or especially significant damage in criminal law is 250 thousand or 1 million, respectively.

If we consider in detail the possible scale of losses caused under all points of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code parts 5, 6 and 7 (for fraud), punishable by penalties of the Criminal Code, then significant damage under the UKRF will amount to more than 10 thousand rubles. Large and especially large damage exceeds 3 and 12 million rubles.

The impressive amount of material damage under Art. 159.6, 159.5 and 159.3 is considered an amount of 1.5 million rubles, and a particularly large amount is 6 million.

Theft

The concept of damage (in criminal law) is a dependent category.

Theft is understood as the gratuitous, unlawful seizure of material assets from the victim by a criminal. Theft is carried out, as a rule, either in the presence of the injured party, or in secret from it.

Since the degree of punishment and the amount of compensation depend on the magnitude of the harm caused, it is worth paying special attention to the qualifying features of the crime. Theft in an amount of at least 1 thousand rubles is criminally punishable; for amounts of damage below the minimum, penalties are applied in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offences.

The qualifying features of a criminal act include:

1. The size of the malicious actions caused.
2. Organized theft carried out by a group of persons.
3. Unauthorized entry of criminals onto property.
4. Preliminary conspiracy.
5. Large and particularly significant losses.
6. Confiscation of real valuables from the victim’s luggage.

Possible fines and terms for committing theft are clearly stated in the Criminal Code of Russia. Only an amicable agreement with the injured party and the presence of mitigating circumstances can influence the extent and severity of the crime.

Robbery

This term implies: “taking possession of someone else’s property in broad daylight with the possibility of using physical force.” Legally, a robbery can have an unfinished or completed status, depending on whether the criminal was able to use the things, documents, money, and valuables taken from the victim or not. The status of the criminal act influences the decision made by the court.

Aggravating circumstances of robbery:

1. Unlawful entry of a criminal into private property.
2. The actions of a group of people in a pre-agreed manner.
3. Robbery using physical force that resulted in loss of life or health.
4. The large-scale value of losses is from 250 thousand to 1 million rubles, in banking or insurance organizations - one and a half million rubles.

Since robbery is a more blatant and deliberate form of theft, then, accordingly, the penalties for those who dare to commit it are more serious than for criminal acts under Art. 158 of the Criminal Code.

Robbery

Organizing a robbery attack, that is, taking material assets using force, unlike a previous criminal act, is almost always associated with grave consequences for the life and health of the victim. And in this case, it will not be so easy for the guilty party to achieve reconciliation with the victim’s side by handing over a bribe with the wording “for compensation for moral costs.” Because there is no universal answer to the question, how much is human life and health worth?

Aggravating circumstances of this type of crime include:

1. Unlawful entry into private property.
2. The threat or fact of using weapons and violence against the victim of the incident.

Robbery carried out by an organized community of criminals on a particularly large scale or causing harm to the vital functions of the victim’s body is punished more severely than all others.

Regardless of the severity of crimes punishable by penalties, information on the possible meaning of penalties for causing harm in any amount is contained in the Russian Crime Code, as amended and supplemented for the current year. The only thing that should be additionally mentioned is that the death of the victim as a result of unlawful actions classified as Art. 159 of the Criminal Code, reclassifies the criminal act for consideration of the case under Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of Russia, as “robbery”.

It is important to know that when repeated, each individual episode is charged separately, and the amount of theft is determined based on the value of the property that the perpetrator took possession of separately for each episode. In the case of a continuing crime, the total amount of the stolen goods is charged, regardless of the number of stages of theft

Statistics

Regarding the judicial practice of past years on fraud, it is worth noting that in 2011, more than 120 thousand entrepreneurs were convicted in the country, which is every sixth businessman. According to Medvedev, this is a disaster. The fact is that, under the article in the previous edition, both actual fraudsters in the field of business and those who did not intend to fraudulently take possession of the property or funds of third parties could be brought to justice. Gaps in the legislation were taken advantage of by incompetent employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other persons working on “custom” cases.

Special marks

It is obvious that with the adoption of the new law, the corruption component will be practically destroyed. In addition, not only the theft of property will be considered fraud, but also an act that entailed the deprivation of the victims’ right of ownership of real estate. Experts investigating the circumstances of the case must determine the damage caused to the home owner. In this case, the question also arises of how much a particularly large size is. For residential premises, the same rules apply as for other types of criminal activity in terms of property theft.

Liability for significant damage

Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation defines measures of liability for significant damage caused, which include the following:

• imposition of a fine in the amount of up to 40,000 rubles or the total income of the accused for a three-month period;
• compulsory work, the duration of which is up to 360 hours;
• correctional labor, the period of which is up to a year;
• forced labor, the period of which is up to 2 years;
• arrest for up to 3 months;
• imprisonment for up to 3 years.

If the damage was caused as a result of hooligan motives or in any way that is duly recognized as generally dangerous (explosion, arson), or such actions resulted in the death of a person or other grave consequences, stricter liability is provided for this, to which include:

• forced labor, the duration of which is 5 years:
• imprisonment for up to 5 years.

Aggravating circumstances in case of causing significant harm

Part 2 of Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation outlines aggravating circumstances that make causing damage a socially dangerous act. Such circumstances include:

1. Hooligan motives - the main sign of such circumstances is considered to be a malicious violation of the rules of public order, which is demonstrative in nature and is expressed in complete disrespect for society. The motives for this are racial, religious or any other intolerance, hostility or hatred. It is worth noting that such acts are committed both in relation to one person and in relation to a group of persons. At the same time, the offender’s disrespect for society is manifested in a deliberate, demonstrative violation of established norms and rules.
2. Arson is the purposeful starting of a fire. This means that the person who caused significant harm by arson committed certain actions that were aimed at creating a source of ignition and maintaining combustion to achieve a certain goal.
3. Explosion – damage or destruction of property (including real estate and vehicles) as a result of the use of an explosive.
4. Other generally dangerous methods - the main sign of this circumstance is the risk of injury to people and their death, and large-scale destruction.

It is understood that a person, when committing such actions, must foresee negative consequences that are socially dangerous.

Grave consequences caused by negligence by a guilty person as a result of causing or damaging someone else’s property include:

• causing serious harm to at least one person, provided that such damage was caused through negligence;
• causing moderate damage to two or more persons through negligence;
• leaving the victim without means of subsistence or without housing;
• disconnecting consumers from life-sustaining sources (water, electricity, gas, heat);
• suspension of the enterprise for a long period of time.

In a situation where a person causing significant harm could (or should) have foreseen the onset of adverse consequences in the form of death or serious harm to health, then it makes sense to talk about a set of crimes. In this case, the guilty person is simultaneously charged with causing significant harm and committing another criminal act (death, bodily injuries of varying severity).

In addition, it is necessary to differentiate damage or destruction of property on a significant scale from petty hooliganism in the form of deliberate destruction or damage to other people's property and vandalism.

Petty hooliganism provides for administrative liability, which occurs provided that the amount of damage caused is less than 2,500 rubles and it is not significant.

In the video about the application of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-yVIFAdXekE%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque

To summarize, it is worth noting that significant damage to an individual means causing harm in the amount of 2,500 rubles. Only in this case can we talk about applying the prescribed criminal liability measures to the guilty person. In other cases, we will talk about administrative measures. In addition, it is worth distinguishing significant damage and destruction of property from vandalism.

Features of the amendments

There are some specific features regarding the amendments to Article 159. It is clear that the division of fraud into types was carried out in relation to entrepreneurs and criminals who violated the law “in a big way.” The previously indicated amounts of 250 thousand for respectable businessmen were rather insignificant than significant, and the punishment was quite noticeable. Therefore, to bring it into compliance, theft on an especially large scale and on a large scale in the current version of the law is recognized as a crime for amounts several times higher.

The only exception is articles 159 and 159.2, in which the amount for which the theft was committed remained the same. Article 159.2 deals with the crime of receiving various payments, compensation, subsidies and other government benefits. Concealing important information when applying for social benefits or providing incorrect data (as part of a crime) must be proven in terms of intent.

Thus, the dimension of the crime is important when assigning punishment. The number of persons who committed the crime is also taken into account. The determining factor in the consideration of fraud cases is the established especially large amount - this is how much money (or the quantitative expression of stolen property) is involved in the case.

Fraud, divided into categories in this legislation, also provides for different penalties. For particularly large crimes, Articles 159.1-159.3, 159.5 and 159.6 impose imprisonment for a maximum of 10 years. In Article 159.4, this period cannot exceed 5 years.

How laws work

Drivers trying to bribe a traffic police inspector to avoid paying a fine, don’t risk it. Now all inspectors are given orders to catch such bribe-paying losers. And instead of solving problems, you may end up with a new headache. And criminal punishment. Let's see how those who gave a bribe are punished. In minor, everyday cases - a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles or they can even be imprisoned for 2 years. For particularly large bribes, the fine will be up to 4 million rubles or imprisonment with a fine of up to 15 years. It’s a little easier for bribe givers: if they cooperate with the investigation, or prove that a bribe was extorted from them, then they can count on the leniency of the court, including being transferred to witnesses in the case.

Let's think about morality

We noticed that the court can choose whether to imprison the bribe-taker or impose a fine on him. But this is another opportunity for corruption. Bribe a judge and you'll get a small fine; if you don't bribe, you might end up in jail. In such a situation, every bribe-taking official will try to bribe the judge through a lawyer or other intermediaries. We can say that our respected deputies did this on purpose - what if they also fall out of favor with justice - they won’t be deputies forever, and everyone takes bribes.

Countries around the world that have adopted the UN Convention against Corruption (read about the Convention in the article “Behind the Scenes War”) consider it a punishable crime to suddenly enrich an official, increase his assets, purchase real estate, which significantly exceed the amount of his official salary, and it is difficult to explain their origin . All over the world, except Russia. An official bought a mansion from us for 20 million, but no one asks where he got these millions. As long as the country has such a populist attitude towards corruption on the part of the authorities, it will continue to bloom magnificently, and we will continue to be poor and lose jobs, and, as we grow old, live on miserable pensions.

Cases from life

Let's not remember things from long ago - Mrs. Vasilyeva, for example, with her house arrest. In September 2016, Deputy Head of the Economic Security Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Zakharchenko was caught red-handed while receiving a bribe amounting to 7 million rubles. The investigation into the case continues. But, comrade, most likely he will be imprisoned. I wonder what his boss is like? Does it continue to work? Is the new deputy pulling chestnuts out of the fire?

The head of the Federal Customs Service, Belyaninov, got caught very stupidly in July 2016. Helped illegally transport high-end alcohol across the border duty-free. Most likely, they simply knocked him over so that he would not get in the way, and so that he would not say too much, they put him behind bars.

In the same July, the troika caught the deputy head of the Investigative Committee of Moscow Nikandrov, the head of their own security Maksimenko and his deputy Lamonov receiving a bribe of 1 million American money from a criminal. This hurricane most likely gave them up.

In Soviet times, bribery was strictly punished - up to capital punishment. And taking into account the fact that everyone was in sight of each other and did not live in mansions with security, there was no point in taking millions in bribes - there was nowhere to spend it anyway. Well, maybe save some gold. And there was always a danger that your accomplices might hand you over not to the authorities, but to the city party committee - and now, hello, or the loss of a warm place along with a party card, or a place not so remote.

With this I say goodbye to you. I hope that the topic raised is interesting, so subscribe to new articles on our site and give a link to it to your friends and relatives on social networks. And we will try to make our information useful.