The plenum of the Supreme Court will explain the specifics of criminal liability for forgery of documents

ST 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

1. Forgery of an official document granting rights or exempting from obligations for the purpose of its use or sale of such a document, or production for the same purposes or sale of counterfeit state awards of the Russian Federation, RSFSR, USSR, stamps, seals or forms -

shall be punishable by restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years, or forced labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest for a term of up to six months, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years.

2. Forgery of a citizen’s passport or certificate granting rights or exempting from obligations for the purpose of their use or sale of such documents -

shall be punishable by restriction of freedom for a term of up to three years, or forced labor for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for a term of up to three years.

3. Acquisition, storage, transportation for the purpose of use or sale, or use of a deliberately counterfeit citizen’s passport, identity card or other official document granting rights or releasing from duties, stamps, seals or forms -

shall be punishable by restriction of freedom for a term of up to one year, or forced labor for a term of up to one year, or imprisonment for a term of up to one year.

4. Acts provided for in parts one to three of this article, committed with the aim of concealing another crime or facilitating its commission, -

shall be punished by forced labor for a term of up to four years or imprisonment for the same term.

5. Use of a knowingly forged document, except for the cases provided for in part three of this article, -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to eighty thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to four hundred eighty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to two years, or by arrest for a term of up to six months.

Evidence of a crime

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Responsibility for forging a signature is provided for in Article 327. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This article contains information regarding the determination of penalties for persons who have committed: forgery of signatures on documents, production or sale of fictitious documents, imitation of awards, forms, stamps or seals.

Today is 327 Art. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with commentaries has two compositions, according to which responsibility for forgery of a signature is divided into the forgery itself and the sale of forged documents.

Confirmation of the crime is considered both in written and material form. Moreover, if we are talking about forging a signature in an agreement, the agreement itself will be considered as material evidence, because In court, it is the material properties of the document that will be of interest. In the event of a forgery of the contract itself, or part of it, this document will be considered as written evidence, namely the information contained in it.

Indicators of criminal activity

The qualifying features of this crime have many nuances.
There are many ways to produce false documents thanks to modern devices and various developments. Therefore, during the trial, it is worth considering each individual case, and a conclusion is also drawn that makes it possible to qualify it under Article 327 or reject this issue altogether. The main options for creating false acts are:

1. Various copies are printed on a copier and then used; other copying devices can also be used.
2. In the original document, changing an entry by adding it.
3. A completed form that was obtained fraudulently or printed on a special device.
4. Fraud using a stamp and seal.
5. Change in source data.

If the offender performs a mechanical action on a certain document, then an inspection will be carried out to identify changes in these papers. Filling the required information in the authentic forms can be done by adding the required data in it.

For example, changing a real amount with zeros to a larger number by adding different numbers to them. The amount of implausible information entered may be miniscule, but the meaning and content of the document can change dramatically.

Sometimes the fraud is carried out using hand writing; such documents may be in written form. There are certain points that can easily reveal fabricated documents. Almost regularly, criminals try to change original documents using cleaning or some kind of chemical reagents. In this case, such mechanical effects provide an excellent opportunity to preserve the real signature and seal on the form.

Forgery of documents (Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is a rather serious punishment, and to determine it, this crime can be qualified in various ways. There are quite a lot of signs in which, after a careful examination, you can see abrasion made with the help of chemical lotions, an eraser or a razor.

After conducting an “experiment” on a document, its adjustment loses its meaning, since the securities and the certificate are distorted, but this makes it possible to gain benefits, as well as cause unique damage to the owners, as well as third parties whose interests are directly tied to the original source.

Forgery of documents (Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) makes it possible for criminal elements to alter an identity card by changing its various parts. Falsification of a photo on a genuine document is carried out in various ways, but the stamp must be preserved along with the main photograph.

Entire pages can also be changed, for example, it could be a passport, military ID or any other proof of identity. And if the original has many pages, then sometimes scammers can compile them from several outgoing sources.

All kinds of documents can be forged by making copies using various modern technical equipment. Forgery of documents (Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), namely impressions, is carried out to register false papers, since many of them subsequently have legal status, of course, only after they are sealed with a stamp or seal.

A criminal can easily make any stamp if he has the necessary flare, a print from the original document, or he can do it by copying. Forgery of documents (Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is determined by some existing signs, for example, if an image is made, then the main puncture of the compass, grammatical errors and an unclear picture remain.

Rules of law

As a rule, illegally signing papers is only part of the crime. Therefore, below we will provide a list of articles related to this fact.

Why do you need a seal?

Legal entities and individuals have the right to carry out commercial activities without a seal.
This possibility arises from the provisions of Federal Law No. 129 of 08.08.2001, according to which, when registering a company or individual entrepreneur with the Federal Tax Service, it is not necessary to submit a sketch of the company’s stamp to the registration authority. But organizations of certain forms of ownership are required to have a seal in accordance with various Federal laws governing their activities. These include:

• OOO;
• JSC;
• MUP;
• non-profit companies.

In addition, leaving an impression is a mandatory requirement when filling out some documents. For example, an entry about the dismissal of an employee made in the work book must be confirmed by the seal of the organization.

Also, a stamp must be placed on receipts issued to the client if the entrepreneur works without a cash register. This is due to the fact that the receipt is a strict reporting form and is considered invalid without an imprint.

Comments on Art. 327 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

The object of the crime is the method of production and sale established by law: papers of an approved sample, stamps and state awards, as well as forms and seals. The subject of the offense is:

• Official or personal documents that allow you to obtain additional rights or avoid obligations of both legal entities and individuals.
• Fake government insignia, gratitude.

In this case, a personal official document is accepted as identification. It contains complete or partial information about the owner. This could be demographic, social, or job-related data. The concept of another official document refers to papers of an approved sample that allow the use of additional benefits or relieve one from any obligations that have been analyzed.

If examined, a counterfeit document will be one that, in the process of certain actions, began to bear the external and qualitative characteristics of the original. Not only the production itself, but also the use for any purpose of a false document will also be considered a crime.

The use of counterfeit papers will be considered to be presented to officials or private individuals to carry out fraudulent activities or to conceal the fact of a crime. The end of the crime in this case will be the moment of production, sale or presentation of false papers or documents containing fictitious information. A person who has reached the age of 16 and has passed a sanity examination will be considered a person who has committed a crime. If it is implied that the person only produced these papers, or is an authorized person, the crime is considered under Articles 327, Part 3 and 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The corpus delicti in this case is characterized by the established fact of an attempt to use false documents.

Who is considered a criminal

Who is considered a criminal?
According to Art. 327, a citizen (or a stateless person) who is at least 16 years old can be held accountable.

If an official is guilty of falsifying documents, then he is not convicted under this article; for officials who falsified documents, there is Art. 201 and 292.

The situation of the criminal worsens if it is proven that he carried out the fraud in order to hide another crime committed or in order to commit a criminal act in the future.

It is worth paying attention to Part 3 of the article, which states that the person who presented false papers will be held accountable. The crime under Part 3 will only be for filing false documents, and it does not matter whether it is an official document or a personal one

Its use is expressed in the provision of false papers to officials in enterprises of various forms of ownership. Responsibility does not arise when using falsified stamps, forms, or seals.

Warning! Criminal liability arises for the use of a forged document with direct intent. That is, a person wants to receive some kind of authority using a forged document or, on the contrary, to relieve himself of responsibilities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVjJkOgSNEw

Moreover, it does not matter whether the citizen used the forged document once or systematically. But there will be no crime if a person provides, for example, instead of his ID, a colleague’s document.

Actions involving the use of a document by the creator of a forged document do not qualify under Part 3; his actions are fully covered by Part 1 and in the additional application of the last part of Art. 327 is not necessary.

Types of fakes

In the modern world, there are two types of signature forgery - manual and technical. Let's look at these issues in more detail, as there are a lot of subtleties.

Manual signature falsification

Due to the development of technology, it is becoming easier for modern criminals to commit crimes every day. Manual signatures are especially often forged, since the process does not require the use of specialized equipment. The manual method of forging a signature includes three types of falsification:

• The first method is the simplest and therefore known to everyone. This is a forgery of a handwritten signature. This requires some talent, because... This method involves restoring from memory or using the original manually. Almost everyone during their school days tried to forge teachers' signatures in their diaries. There are people who have developed this talent and use it illegally. It is usually easy to detect such fraud. As a last resort, an examination of the handwriting is carried out. The analysis requires an experienced professional, an original (usually 10 examples) and paper to be checked. In this case, documents where the signature was affixed with too much time difference are not subject to verification, because with age a person’s handwriting changes and it is more difficult to establish identity.
• The next method is one in which additional improvised means are used during counterfeiting. One of these tools is carbon paper, which is freely available in almost every office supply store. It is believed that such means allow one to achieve better quality during the falsification process.
• The third method involves the use of computer programs and a conventional laser printer. Scanned signatures are restored using a printer on paper. This type of counterfeit is more advanced and requires examination using modern equipment to identify the forgery.

Technical forgery of signature

Technical forgery of a signature is considered to be those methods of falsification that use computer technology, special equipment, or simply improvised means. The difference between a technical forgery and a manual one is that the forgery is not produced by handwriting, but by copying the signature from the original. The most commonly used types of technical counterfeiting are:

• Redrawing the signature in pencil and then tracing the strokes with ink. Typically, a soft pencil is used in this case. It is thanks to him that falsification is detected - coloring pigments remain on the paper.
• Imitation of a signature using special paper, exposed to light or by pressing, followed by tracing the contours with ink.
• A method of forging a signature using substances that have copying properties. In this case, various emulsions, films, photographic paper and even egg white can be used.
• Forgery using an electrographic apparatus. Today this is the most popular way to forge a signature. It is distinguished by the shine of the ink, the absence of relief and flaking of the dye.
• A less popular, but used method is falsification using printers. As a rule, in this case an inkjet or laser printer is used. Dot matrix printers are least suitable for these purposes. This type of forgery is also distinguished by its lack of relief; in addition, tiny drops of toner can be distinguished. It is easy to distinguish such a fake from the original - if water gets in, the outline of the signature will blur.
• Forgery using a printed form - facsimile. This method is the most difficult to determine, because... in this case, the fake will be most similar to the original. A distinctive feature will be the absence of grooves left by writing instruments.

Signs of forgery of a signature or parts of a document

In order to register the fact of signature forgery, it is necessary to identify the signs. They will differ for different methods of producing a forged document, but there are basic, common characteristics:

• The presence of paired lines, the sharpness of rounded strokes, traces of preparation. Such signs indicate that the signature was copied from the original.
• The presence of unnatural thickenings, blunt ends of lines, excessive tortuosity. These characteristics characterize the copying method of counterfeiting using glass.
• If you copy using special paper, the document will show pigment marks and poor line alignment. This sign is easy to detect - all you need is a magnifying glass and good lighting, or an infrared lamp.
• When falsifying a signature using materials with increased copying ability, emulsion particles can be found on the paper. There will also be no relief. Upon closer examination, you can see that the tinting of the signature is uneven, and small splashes of paint will be found next to the signature.

Features of bringing to responsibility

In order to bring the perpetrators to justice, it is necessary to have a falsified document and a professional expert’s opinion confirming the fact of forgery. It is necessary to have papers with a fictitious signature on hand, because they will serve as physical evidence. However, criminal prosecution for signature forgery has a number of features:

• Nowadays, no one will be surprised by forging the director’s signature at work. There are emergency moments in which the person committing this act does not have selfish goals. But in order to avoid punishment for forging a signature, it is still better to obtain written permission from management. If there is none, then an overly proactive employee may be fired for exceeding his authority.
• The situation is different - the employer falsifies the employee’s signature. Forging a signature on a payroll slip is the most common example. Thanks to such forgery, the entrepreneur may not pay the employee wages. If this fact is discovered, you must immediately file a claim in court.
• Forgery of signatures in sales contracts is also common today. If falsification is detected, such a document loses its validity, and the fraudster will be held responsible for forging the signature.
• Forging a signature in the minutes of a general meeting today also involves punishment, because For some time now, this document has been considered official. In this case, the most difficult thing will be to find the culprit of the forgery.
• Article 327 also provides for punishment for forging signatures on documents. The punishment in this case is determined by the court and depends on the severity of the crime.
• Forging a signature on the acceptance certificate may result in the contractor not receiving money for the work performed. In this case, a common mistake could have occurred - some employee signed the act for management. In any case, only examination and trial can help here.
• For violators, forging a signature in court may turn out to be a more serious crime than expected. The fact is that in this case Art. 303 also comes into force. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which considers facts of falsification of evidence and the results of operational investigative activities.

Why is it easy to fake a seal?

During the Soviet era, the production of round stamps with the name and details of the enterprise, as well as with a corporate image or other additional inscriptions, could only be carried out by specialized stamping and engraving workshops. With the entry into force of Order No. 48 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation dated February 14, 1994, control by law enforcement agencies over the activities of such special enterprises is no longer exercised.

Today, any company can produce stamps. You do not need to obtain special permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for this. Anyone can order a company seal, even those who are not employees of the company. In this regard, cases of falsification of imprints on documents have become more frequent.

Criminal liability for signature forgery

How can a criminal case of forgery of a signature turn out? Today, forgery of signatures on documents can result in either monetary or more serious punishment, up to and including imprisonment. These cases are few, but they are worth knowing:

• In the case when a criminal case is initiated under Art. 327, the fact of falsification of documents will be considered, thanks to which a person was able to enjoy rights not due to him or to be freed from unwanted responsibilities. Punishment in such a criminal case can be imposed as a restriction or imprisonment for up to 2 years.
• When the falsification was made to conceal another crime or facilitate its commission, the responsibility will be more serious - the offender will have to spend time either doing compulsory labor for 4 years or in prison for the same period.
• If a criminal case is opened against a person who uses a deliberately forged document, but does not produce it, the punishment will be more lenient. In this case, you can get by with a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles, or disciplinary work for up to 2 years. Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also implies in this case the possibility of arrest. But today there are no arrest houses left in Russia. Therefore, since 1996, the practice of arrest has not been applied.

If the violation concerned the forgery of stamps or signatures on medicine papers, for a single case this means imprisonment for up to 3 years. If an organized group participated in the crime, the imprisonment may be extended. The minimum period for this example will be 5, and the maximum will be 10 years.

Please also note that criminal prosecution threatens both the manufacturer and the person who used the counterfeit papers.

Qualifying features

Qualifying characteristics
It is important to note that the Criminal Code does not stand for the concept of “forgery of documents.” However, experts have found that falsification can be expressed in the following: . production of counterfeit paper using copying or duplicating equipment; use of forms obtained illegally; use of forged stamps, signatures, seals; corrections made to a document or a completely redone document; changes in part and the full volume of text in a document, which are made by washing, erasing, cutting, etching; adding other records by adding, inserting, pasting.

• production of counterfeit paper using copying or duplicating equipment;
• use of forms obtained illegally;
• use of forged stamps, signatures, seals;
• corrections made to a document or a completely redone document;
• changes in part and the full volume of text in a document, which are made by washing, erasing, cutting, etching;
• adding other records by adding, inserting, pasting.

Document erasure refers to the mechanical removal of parts (or all) of text. Can be done by erasing with an eraser or blade.

Thus, the top layer of paper is damaged, the fibers are ruffled, and the glossy surface is changed.

Etching is changing a document using chemicals (acids, alkalis). This method can help remove text, but it also affects the paper. After etching, yellow spots appear on the paper, the ink may smear, and strokes may become unclear.

Addition (additional printing) is the addition of text in the form of individual words, paragraphs, numbers, and symbols. Such additions are usually made in small quantities, but can significantly affect the content of the document.

For example, amounts in statements and invoices are printed. Such fraud can be distinguished by the mismatch of horizontal characters, difference in ink color, etc.

Objective side

Criminal actions according to Art. 327 of the Criminal Code can be expressed in the forgery of official documents (its production in any volume, in any way). This article also provides for actions only for the sale of documents, forms, seals, awards of the Russian Federation, the USSR, without carrying out fraud with them.

That is, one person was engaged in forging documents, and another citizen presented a false document. Fraud with stamps can consist of creating completely new fake stamps or introducing into stamps that were issued on a legal basis new letters and other details that distort their essence.

Info A crime under this article is already considered completed at the moment when at least one of the actions provided for in one of the parts of Art. 327.

However, there are a number of crimes that are not classified under Art. 327. For example, if a person forged a prescription from a doctor or another document that allows him to obtain a narcotic or psychotropic substance, this is regarded as a completely different crime (Article 233).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=YJ5eXyZP3bo%3Ffeature%3Doembed

In this case, the article on falsification of documents does not even apply additionally.

The danger of such actions lies in the fact that the use of falsified documents (certificates) violates the regulated procedure for the circulation and handling of official papers, seals, stamps, etc.

As a result, the rights of citizens may be violated or, for example, illegal payments may begin to be transferred from the state or local budget.

However, acts of forgery of documents will not be considered a crime under this article if the paper does not provide any rights, benefits and other advantages.

Criminal liability will not arise even if such a document was certified by a notary or other official. Falsification of awards from other states does not fall under this article.

Subjective side

In order for a person to be held accountable for fraud with documents, his act must be expressed with direct intent.

This means that the person is aware of the harm of his action, but despite this, he still wanted to break the law.

The purpose of the crime is to use the manufactured documents (forms, stamps, awards) for one’s own interests or for the benefit of others.

When there is no liability for forging a signature

A crime is considered to be the case when a document is official, has legal force and releases from any obligations or provides additional benefits. Otherwise, counterfeiting is not considered the subject of a crime.

In addition, let us turn to Article 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It says that although there are signs of a violation, an act or inaction of a person is not considered a crime if it does not cause harm to others.

Bykov Boris Nikolaevich

Lawyer at the Legal Defense Board. Candidate of Legal Sciences. Work experience in the field of criminal law - 14 years. Defense in court, full case management, preparation of documents.

Who has the right to bring charges?

The subject of a crime can be any individual or citizen over the age of 16 years.
If the crime was committed by an official or performing certain managerial functions in a commercial organization, their actions are classified under Articles of the Criminal Code No. 292 (Forgery of Officials) or 201 (Abuse of Power).

Also, charges may be brought against an accomplice or a person who used a counterfeit, although he knew that he was using a counterfeit. But the punishment itself will be less severe.

Good to know: legal entities cannot be charged only with forgery of documents, since such a crime is classified under other articles, usually as fraud.

Why falsify a seal?

The company's stamp is placed on all legally significant documents:

• contracts;
• orders;
• powers of attorney;
• certificates of completed work;
• decisions of LLC participants;
• reporting to regulatory authorities;
• certificates

By making a false seal, a person can conduct fraudulent transactions on behalf of a company, obtain bank loans, or carry out other financial fraud. Most often, a fake imprint is left on invoices, invoices, payment orders and other documents. The main goal is to shelter the real income of the enterprise from taxation.

In addition, without a seal, documents issued by medical institutions - sick leave certificates, prescriptions for the purchase of medications at a pharmacy - are invalid.

Having a false stamp, a citizen will be able to freely purchase illegal, psychotropic or narcotic drugs, mislead the employer and illegally receive money for a fake sick leave.

How to spot a fake

The authenticity of a seal impression can be determined visually or through examination. When examining the print, pay attention to the following details:

• presence of spelling errors;
• content and placement of the drawing;
• font size;
• character spacing;
• overall print size;
• degree of uniformity of distribution of stamp ink;
• mirror reflection.

The first sign of falsification is a blurry, too weak or, on the contrary, too bright print. Distortion of small details, such as a missing dot, also indicates a fake.

Mirroring is an obvious falsification of a seal impression, since this effect is obtained after copying the original print.

The original stamp is always symmetrical, the symbols are located at the same distance from each other, the text is located strictly along the radius of the circle.

In addition, a person who doubts the authenticity of a seal can contact an expert organization that will help identify a fake. If the expert’s conclusion establishes that the seal is forged, this will be the basis for appealing to a judicial authority.