Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes liability for the following illegal actions with important documents:
- theft;
- destruction;
- damage;
- concealment.
The text of the article does not contain the concept of theft, so it is necessary to refer to the content of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which understands this act as the secret theft of someone else’s property.
In some cases, theft is understood not only as theft, but also as robbery, extortion, and fraud. The theft of property is considered secret when the illegal seizure is carried out from the owner or another person without his noticing. If the owner of the property saw that his property or money was being confiscated, but the perpetrator did not realize that his actions were being watched and believed that he was operating quietly, such an act should still be classified as theft.
If, during the commission of theft, the owner of the property or another person discovers the criminal, but he does not stop illegal actions and does not refuse to carry out his criminal plan, such an act will be qualified under Art. 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “robbery”. If violence dangerous to life and health is used against the owner of the thing, or the attacker threatens to use such violence, the act will be qualified under Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “robbery”.
Destruction means the destruction of a thing, in which its restoration and use for its intended purpose is impossible. Damage is partial destruction. If damaged, the item can be restored and used for its intended purpose.
Concealment of documents, stamps or seals constitutes concealment, excluding the possibility of their use by authorized persons for their intended purpose. When an item is hidden, it does not become the property of other persons, but is placed in a place where it is difficult to detect.
In essence, Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is almost identical in content and structure to Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, with the exception that in order to qualify a crime under it, it is necessary that the illegal act was aimed specifically at the theft of documents.
It should be noted that in Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also does not contain a list of documents that are considered important. This is determined by the court in each specific case.
Article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on theft of documents
Concealment, destruction, theft, theft of documents is an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - Article 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This action is considered illegal, which means it entails responsibility and punishment. It does not matter under what circumstances the crime was committed, punishment occurs even if the criminal hid the papers for some personal purpose.
The first part of the article provides data on the theft of seals, stamps and other official documents.
Official documents are papers that confirm any facts and/or events that have legal significance. In addition, such papers may provide rights or impose obligations. Official documents have a prescribed form and details. The latter may be on stamps and seals, so their theft also carries criminal liability.
For example, if a seal with its details was stolen from a large organization, the thief may face punishment up to one year in prison. It all depends on the circumstances in which the crime was committed and the goals of the criminal. Indeed, in one case, a person could inadvertently confuse the seals and take someone else’s with him, and in another, he could purposefully steal it in order to make transactions on behalf of the organization.
The second part of the article talks about the theft of a citizen’s passport or other personal documents.
Also read: Petty theft, theft - is it possible to get a real sentence?
Responsibility arises for the theft of a passport, not only a civil one, but also a diplomatic, service or sailor’s passport, as well as papers that perform the function of a passport. In addition, liability also arises for the theft of a driver’s license, work book, pension certificate, etc.
Did you know that if your passport is stolen, you may face a fine? It seems that this is some kind of absurdity, but it is really so. At the end of the article, circumstances due to which such a situation may occur are given.
The third part examines the theft by any means of excise and special stamps, marks of conformity and seals.
In case of their theft, criminal liability arises, which may entail punishment in the form of a fine of up to two hundred thousand rubles.
If the criminal himself admits to the theft and returns the stamps to their owner, then punishment can be avoided. Read more about this further.
In Vladivostok, money “smells” of advertising
The corruption of money initially served as one of the main sources of formation of public finances and in this sense did not go beyond the state’s abuse of its right to issue money, and, accordingly, did not require counteraction. On the contrary, counterfeiting, as a private form of damage to banknotes, has always been a socially dangerous and criminally punishable act, for which the most severe penalties were provided.
The article presents the history of the emergence and development of damage to banknotes and counterfeiting both in Russia and abroad, distinguishes between these two legal phenomena and presents various ways to combat them in different historical periods. Currently, in the Russian Federation, counterfeiting is defined as a crime in the sphere of economic activity, for which criminal liability is provided.
The theft of what documents is punishable?
There are several common types of theft, which are divided according to the subject of the theft: personal or official papers.
- Accounting acts
These include accounting registers and primary documents. There is no consensus on whether such papers are considered official documents, but, nevertheless, the type of theft will depend on its purpose. In any case, after discovering the loss, you need to contact the police department. Employees must come to the crime scene and draw up a report that will confirm the fact of theft. This is necessary to initiate a criminal case.
After this, you need to write an application to the tax service, where you need to indicate the fact of theft of documents. You must submit an application for document restoration within forty days. And this process must be completed no later than the end of the tax period, otherwise you will be charged a penalty for the underpaid tax.
Important: after discovering a loss, you must contact the police and the tax service as soon as possible. If you don't do this, you will be charged extra taxes.
- Documents for the car
Car documents refer to personal documents (driver's license and car papers, including technical passport). Their theft is also subject to criminal liability. There are cases when criminals steal documents and then offer to return them for a reward. This already applies to blackmail.
If you notice that your car documents have been stolen, try placing an ad in the newspaper and on the Internet. If there is no result, then immediately contact the police and file a statement about missing documents. When drawing up a statement, you must describe in detail the details of what happened. After this, the employees will open a criminal case, and you will be given a certificate confirming this. With this certificate, you will need to go to the traffic police in the exact department where you registered the car. You will write an application for restoration of the registration certificate and pay the state fee, after which the expert will check the body and engine numbers and check the car. After the inspection, you should be issued a new registration certificate.
In order to reinstate your driver's license, you will also need to pay a state fee. In the meantime, the document will be under development, you will be given a temporary license, as is the case with a temporary passport. See more about this at the end of the article.
- Theft of papers for an apartment
Also read: At what amount does criminal liability begin in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?
Immediately after you notice the theft of documents, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation recommends immediately contacting the police and Rosreestr.
- First, file a police report. After this, you will urgently need to restore 2 documents: a certificate of registration of your rights to the apartment and title papers.
- After which the apartment will be supervised so that fraudsters will not be able to do anything with the housing.
In all cases, regardless of what documents were stolen, you need to act quickly. There are situations when attackers, having received a document, begin to blackmail the victim or, even worse, take out loans for her and sell apartments.
Until the seal is restored...
This is where the fun begins for the firm's company. In particular, as mentioned above, using the example of Tamara Grigorievna, the organization becomes practically paralyzed, i.e. it may actually suspend its activities. Please sign contracts, but without a seal, counterparties may simply refuse to cooperate, because a document that does not have it is not such by definition. The most unfavorable thing here is that the return to normal operation is affected not only by the speed and efficiency of the actions of the injured company, but also by the quality of the police work. In each individual case, the time frame for solving this problem can last from several days to several months. At the same time, no one limits the organization from making a new seal for itself in just one or two days. However, as long as her “clone” is in the hands of criminals, it is unlikely that she will be able to live in peace. In general, it is advisable that she be found as quickly as possible. This will help reduce this problem to “no” in the shortest possible time.
What punishment will a person suffer for stealing official documents, a seal or stamp of an organization?
If a person steals official documents or seals, he may face the following penalties:
- a fine of up to two hundred thousand rubles;
- compulsory work up to 480 hours;
- correctional labor for up to 24 months;
- arrest up to 4 months;
- imprisonment for up to 1 year
The punishment is determined depending on the circumstances in which the crime was committed, the goals of the kidnapper and the amount of damage caused to the victim.
What awaits a person if he steals stamps or marks of conformity?
- fine up to 200 thousand rubles;
- forced labor for up to 24 months;
- imprisonment for up to 2 years;
What happens if a person steals personal documents?
- a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles;
- compulsory work for up to 360 hours;
- correctional labor for up to 1 year;
- arrest for up to 3 months.
For the theft of what documents does a criminal face criminal liability?
The subject of the crime under Art. 325 are such documents as:
- passport and other personal documents (military ID, driver’s license, education document, medical insurance, etc.);
- official documents of the enterprise (charter, minutes and other important papers).
Also in Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (new edition) establishes criminal liability not only for the theft of documents, but also for the theft of stamps, organization seals, as well as excise duty stamps and marks of conformity.
In other cases, when, for example, copies of documents or unofficial papers are stolen, criminal liability does not arise.
Under what circumstances does criminal liability arise under Art. 325 CC?
The criminal will be punished not only for the theft of documents, but also for other acts.
- For stealing documents. Theft is understood as a circumstance when there is a need to restore documents. Moreover, due to such a crime, negative consequences appear, namely the inability to use or dispose of property (in the case when documents for an apartment or car are stolen).
- For their destruction. A situation when it is not possible to restore a document due to the fact that it was damaged or completely destroyed (burned, torn, etc.).
- For damage. A situation where documents are partially destroyed, but they cannot be used due to their improper appearance.
- For concealment. When a document is in good condition, but cannot be used because it cannot be found.
If a person hid documents, even in your house, he also faces punishment under Art. 325. This is understood as concealment of documents, that is, the occurrence of a circumstance when documents cannot be used.
Smuggling of cash and/or monetary instruments
And when covering the topic of “careful attitude towards banknotes,” it is especially necessary to point out to the population “proper storage of banknotes, excluding storage in places that lead to damage to banknotes,” Yurov points out in the document. Apparently, the police are so busy at work that they didn’t watch the month-old videos in which the leader of the Orthodox movement “God’s Will” Dmitry Tsorionov (nickname Enteo) does not hide his involvement in what happened in Manege, calling his actions protecting the feelings of believers.
Selling fake money is an attempt to put counterfeit money into circulation. Counterfeiters try to buy something in stores, change banknotes in stalls where machines for checking the authenticity of banknotes are not installed.
It is worth noting that if counterfeiting money is carried out not with the purpose of introducing it into circulation, but with the intention of misleading a limited number of citizens, then such a crime is classified as fraud.
The threat of disseminating other information that could cause harm to the victim or his relatives.
In most cases, as they say, it is their own fault - they washed it, poured paint on it, and left it to mold in the basement. What now – count losses?
The question is if there was a criminal record 5 years ago. Then you entered the military department at a university, completed your studies, and before training camp they asked for a certificate? Do they have the right to expel? I've been studying for a year now.
In what cases can you avoid liability for document theft?
There are comments to the article. Thus, according to Article 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with commentaries, the public danger of theft is a violation of the order of official document flow in the company, as well as the rights of citizens mentioned in these documents. Any document conferring rights and obligations, or releasing them, issued by an authorized person or organization is considered official. Therefore, judicial practice does not consider papers, for example, test purchase acts, which were not drawn up by an official, as official.
Also read: Article 226 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - theft of weapons and ammunition, explosives
IMPORTANT: The document thief will not be found guilty if:
- the documents were not used for personal gain, but were returned to their rightful owner voluntarily;
- the criminal himself came to the police station, admitted to committing the crime and handed over the stolen documents intact, without any damage;
- the kidnapper himself contacted the victim, voluntarily gave the documents to the owner and reached a peace agreement with him.
Procedure in case of passport theft
If a passport is stolen, the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is the same - 325th. Have you found yourself in a similar situation when an attacker stole your document right on the street or tricked you into giving it up voluntarily, and then disappeared? You definitely need to contact law enforcement agencies and restore the document as soon as possible. Otherwise, you will be left without the most important document and will not be able to take any actions. And what’s even worse is that you yourself will fall under criminal liability under the article “illegal residence on the territory of the Russian Federation”
- Therefore, first of all, go to the nearest police station and write a statement about the theft of documents. Otherwise, you will have to pay a fine for losing your passport, and you will not be able to punish the criminal.
- Then immediately go to the Federal Migration Service at your place of residence and attach a certificate confirming the fact that the document was stolen. Law enforcement agencies should give you one. Don't forget to take with you a police certificate confirming the theft.
How to recover a stolen passport?
Since a passport is the main document of a citizen of the Russian Federation, if it is stolen, you must contact the authorized authorities.
In order for you to be issued a new document, you need to write a statement to the police and, with the received certificate, go to the FMS department. In this case, you will not have to pay a fine for losing your passport. In addition to this, you will need to attach several more documents: photographs, proof of payment of the state fee and other personal documents that you will be told about.
By the way, a copy of a foreign passport can speed up the process of issuing a new document, so if you have one, be sure to take it with you as an identity document.
By law, you must be issued a passport within two months. But this is too long a time for a person to live without a passport. Therefore, immediately after contacting the authorities, you must be issued a temporary document replacing a passport.
The document is similar to a passport, where information about the citizen is indicated on the inside, and on the outside there is the inscription “Temporary identity card of a citizen of the Russian Federation.” It also contains a photograph and signature of the person. In addition, the last page indicates the reason for issuing the document and its validity period.
Who will determine the price of lost things?
Banknotes may not be accepted. Flyers and announcements on fences apparently no longer attract people's attention. That's why we decided to print advertisements on money. It’s just that the “inventors” ruined the Bank of Russia notes with their stamp. The state is forced to withdraw money from circulation with such “art” in the margins.
Article 186 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation 2016-2019. Manufacturing, storing, transporting or selling counterfeit money or securities.
The objective side of the crime is expressed in actions - the production or sale of counterfeit money or securities.
Who would have thought, but the bank will even accept two halves of different bills. True, there are conditions: there must be only two pieces, and each of them must be no less than 50% of the whole bill. Well, the denomination of the banknotes from which these fragments remain must be the same.
