Often, individuals and legal entities represented by their representatives (for example, collectors) threaten a person with the fact that his property, movable or immovable, may suffer for some reason.
Dear readers! To solve your specific problem, call the hotline or visit the website. It's free.
8 (800) 350-31-84
However, this kind of threat is considered in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as a criminal offense for which there are certain penalties. How to bring to punishment those who threaten a person’s property, sometimes acquired through rather difficult work?
The concept of the threat of destruction and damage to property
The concept of property damage requires detailed study, since the term is evaluative and specifying the fact of damage is just as important as choosing a sanction for the subject of this crime.
Destruction of someone else's property is the loss of the useful characteristics of a certain object. Damage to property is a partial loss of the useful characteristics of an item. A threat to destroy property is an attempt to destroy an object. It is very important to understand the difference between the intention to damage and direct damage to property, because the first violation carries less public danger and, accordingly, less punishment. All losses caused by harm are assessed in monetary terms, and depending on the amount of damage, the severity of the offender’s guilt and the size of the sanction are determined.
The subject of a criminal attack in the case of a threat of damage to property is material wealth.
The crime itself may be directed against:
- real estate;
- movable property;
- life of pets (cats, rabbits, dogs, etc.).
Direct damage or destruction of property can be carried out through negligence or with direct intent. It is very difficult to prove the direct intent of the attacker, but if there was previously a threat of causing damage to property, Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will necessarily be charged.
The danger of intending to destroy or damage property lies in creating an alarming situation for the victim, fear for his property. It should be noted that the deliberate creation of a psychologically traumatic situation that disrupts mental balance is already an attack on human health. In this case, the intention of the attacker does not matter - to carry out the evil intention or not.
The threat has significant consequences for both the individual citizen and society as a whole. The intention to damage someone else's property does not fall under a culpable act and, accordingly, is not subject to criminal liability. In order for Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to be imputed to a criminal and a criminal case to be initiated, it is necessary to determine the qualifying features of the crime.
In practice, attackers can carry out their intentions to damage property by deliberately breaking it, using an explosive device or mechanical force. Very often, criminals promise to set fire to some property. The definition of a fire and the intention to commit it causes a person to expect a terrible event that carries not only property damage, but also a risk to human life.
Deliberate arson is regulated by Article 167, but often even if there is a suspect, it is impossible to prove his guilt due to lack of evidence. Fire, causing damage to material property, destroys all kinds of evidence. Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will be charged with arson threats if the victim can prove that the criminal actions were provoked by a person who had previously shown similar intentions.
The threat of damage to property can be expressed in any of the following forms:
- oral;
- written;
- gestures.
The intent to cause harm may be sent by email, letter, transmitted through third parties or through the media. What is important is the victim’s perception of the threat. Of course, it should be borne in mind that a verbal statement should not always be perceived as real. It should always be determined whether there are grounds to fear that a given threat will be carried out or not. The most justified grounds are considered to be the commission of violence in the process of expressing evil intentions towards the victim.
Responsibility for violation
If a person is brought to criminal liability under the first part of Article 167, the punishment will be a fine of up to 40 thousand rubles or compulsory labor for up to 360 hours. The violator may also be sentenced to correctional labor for up to one year or forced labor for up to 2 years. If there was major damage, imprisonment for up to two years or arrest for up to three months is likely.
The second part of Article 167 of the Criminal Code regulates a more severe punishment if the implementation of an evil intention was carried out out of hooligan motives, by threatening a fire or explosion, and also led to serious consequences for human health. Punishment for committing a crime based on qualifying criteria is forced labor or imprisonment for up to 5 years.
When determining a sanction for a violator, the judge will necessarily compare his actions with hooliganism and vandalism. All three violations have a number of similarities, but the targets of vandals are material historically valuable objects, and hooligans harm people by threatening, insulting and attacking personal material assets. In essence, vandalism and threats to damage property are forms of hooliganism, but depending on the circumstances of the commission of illegal actions, the legislator determines different sanctions for them.
Often, threats to damage property are the first step in committing a more serious crime, for example, an attacker threatens to set fire to a woman’s car if she does not have sexual relations with him, or the threat is made to intimidate witnesses, motivated by racial hatred, in connection with the victim’s professional activities . In this case, Article 167 will be assigned by the judge in conjunction with another. The one that regulates the actions of the criminal, for example, 119, if they promise physical violence or 133, if there is sexual harassment.
To understand how an attacker will be held accountable for threatening to damage property, we can consider a real example from judicial practice. Citizen Sidorov took out a loan from a bank and failed to repay it; the bank sold his debt to collectors, who decided to extort the money by threatening to blow up the car. Having recorded a telephone conversation with debt collectors, and also printed out the threats received by email, Sidorov filed a statement with the police. In this case, a criminal case was initiated and the collection company was brought to justice under Art. 167 part 1 of the Criminal Code. As a result, the court sentenced the director of the company in the form of a fine of 40 thousand rubles and ordered compensation for moral damage to the injured debtor.
There are a huge number of examples of such situations, but, unfortunately, they do not always have a successful outcome; in most cases, they are stopped at the stage of refusal to initiate a criminal case. The attacker is brought to administrative responsibility, since there is no corpus delicti. Every day people try to increase their wealth by working hard and saving. The task of the state is to protect the property rights of citizens, but due to the imperfection of criminal legislation, in order to defend one’s property and protect it from ill-wishers, it is necessary to suffer damage. Before this, at the stage of threats to damage property, law enforcement agencies cannot stop the crime.
Free legal consultation
Good afternoon. If possible, write on a voice recorder, install video surveillance and report it to the police. Tell the person making the threat about the measures taken. That's all for now.
The police will call the person making the threat and interview him. It's quite possible that this will be enough
1. The reasons for initiating a criminal case are: 1) a statement of a crime; 2) surrender; 3) a message about a crime being committed or being prepared, received from other sources; 4) the prosecutor’s decision to forward the relevant materials to the preliminary investigation body to resolve the issue of criminal prosecution.
At the moment, no crime has been committed and formally no one will seriously look into it.
But these measures need to be taken
The measures taken will make it possible, if not to bring to justice the one who threatens (there is no reason for this), then in a certain way to make him understand that there is evidence of his threats and in case of damage to property he will be the first suspect
Article 167. Intentional destruction or damage to property 1. Intentional destruction or damage to someone else's property, if these acts entailed the infliction of significant damage, is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to forty thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three months, or compulsory labor for a term of up to three hundred and sixty hours, or correctional labor for a term of up to one year, or forced labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest for a term of up to three months, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years. 2. The same acts committed out of hooligan motives, by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous method, or which through negligence resulted in the death of a person or other grave consequences, are punishable by forced labor for a term of up to five years or imprisonment for the same term.
You need to obtain evidence of the threats and file a police report.
There are other measures that can be taken. Valery
From a legal point of view, the solution seems to be to contact the police and take measures for self-defense - strengthening measures to protect property.
Hello. Insure the car.
And install a video camera aimed at the car, if it’s in the yard. Or a video recorder.
The threats will be recorded on audio-video, so that if the car is destroyed, they will confirm that there is evidence that property was damaged.
For now, I don’t think there is a reason to contact me, since a threat is not an action itself and, as I understand it, you don’t have any evidence of threats.
But if you record threats, preferably on video, then you can write a statement.
Dear Valery! Hello! In addition to the opinion of a respected and professional colleague, accept the following: buy DVRs, turn on the mode: “360 degrees” (or two recorders) and shoot around the clock.
Also, park your car in a guarded parking lot and insure it with CASCO insurance against everything (including a meteorite fall).
Yes, you definitely need to write a statement
or some other measures can be taken. Valery
As for additional measures, you can try to protect your property in other cases, for example, park your car in a paid parking lot, if the car is damaged, the parking lot will be responsible for this, if possible, park the car in a garage if there is one, etc.
At the same time, in order to prevent what might happen, and not eliminate the consequences, I would recommend, by recording the conversation, to warn the villain that all the necessary measures have been taken by you and the car is under constant control. Any trouble that happens to her will have consequences specifically for him, as he expressed such illegal intentions. Let him guard your car himself now.
Park the car in a paid guarded parking lot, install a DVR, you can insure the car, then we remove the first two points.
Otherwise, such problems (with threats) need to be resolved not within the framework of an online consultation.
The threat to destroy property itself is not a crime, even if it is recorded on a voice recorder.
What do they want from you? They don’t just hand out threats like that. They want property, for revenge or out of envy.
This will be a criminal offense in the case of extortion, but in other cases the best advice was given by lawyer Samarin Alexander, so that you can at least sleep peacefully. They will want to burn your car, for example, and your recorders will burn.
Article 163. Extortion
[Criminal Code of the Russian Federation] [Chapter 21] [Article 163]
1. Extortion, that is, the demand for the transfer of someone else’s property or the right to property or the commission of other actions of a property nature under the threat of violence or destruction or damage to someone else’s property, as well as under the threat of dissemination of information disgracing the victim or his relatives, or other information that may cause significant harm to the rights or legitimate interests of the victim or his relatives, -
Liability for threat of property damage
As noted earlier, the legislator does not provide for an article for the threat of property damage. But Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is closely related to the topic of the threat of property damage. Let's look at the punishments it includes.
For causing damage to property with intent, which resulted in serious damage, in accordance with the law, the defendant can be punished:
- Fine up to 40 thousand rubles;
- A cash payment in the amount of wages or any other income received a punishment of three times the amount;
- Correctional labor for up to 1 year;
- Forced labor for at least 2 years;
- Compulsory work up to 360 hours;
- Arrest for up to 3 months;
- Imprisonment for up to 2 years.
For hooligan acts (arson, explosion), which resulted in severe damage to a person’s body, his death or other serious consequences:
- At least 5 years of forced labor;
- Imprisonment for up to 5 years.
If there is a threat of property damage, it is better to seek help from a lawyer or lawyer.
ATTENTION! Due to recent changes in legislation, the information in this article may be out of date! Our lawyer will advise you free of charge - write in the form below.
- lawyer
Features of the crime
Unfortunately, if a person threatens to destroy your property and does not threaten your life, then it will be very difficult to initiate a criminal case. Until the minute real damage is done, for example to a car, it will not be possible to detect the crime.
This happens because the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not have such an article that guarantees punishment for the threat of damage or destruction of property. In rare cases, the punishment for the actions of an aggressive person towards you can be determined based on administrative law. But after the threats are implemented, the enemy can be accused and even convicted under Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which is much more serious.
This article covers destruction or damage to the property of another person. Actions can be either intentional or hooligan, that is, spontaneous. In both cases, threats made before or during the commission of a crime will serve as additional evidence of guilt.
The crime may be directed against:
- Movable property;
- Real estate;
- Human life;
- The lives of his pets (cats, dogs, etc.).
Damage to property was not necessarily committed with direct intent. However, threats to destroy or damage property will help prove it. On the other hand, the nature of the intent does not play a special role; none of them can mitigate or cancel the fact of the crime committed.
As already mentioned, threats to damage property are not punishable by the Criminal Code. But Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is closely related to the topic of the threat of damage to property, so let’s look at the punishments that it describes.
For causing damage to property with intent, which resulted in serious damage, according to the law, the defendant can receive the following punishment:
- Fine up to 40 thousand rubles;
- A cash payment equal to the salary or any other income of the person who received the punishment in three times the amount (for three months);
- Correctional work lasting up to a year;
- At least two years of forced labor;
- Mandatory work up to 360 hours;
- Arrest up to three months;
- Imprisonment for up to two years.
For hooligan damage (arson, explosion or other), which resulted in severe damage to a person’s body, his death or other serious consequences:
- At least five years of forced labor;
- Imprisonment for up to five years.
Next, we have prepared for you several cases from judicial practice on the issue of imputation of articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for threats to cause damage to property.
OB subjects
Consideration of corporate security as a systemic phenomenon is carried out taking into account the following variables:
- management team;
- separately hired employee;
- advisory bodies;
- external team of another legal entity;
- own SB group.
It is not difficult to guess that within the framework of one or another company, mixed options may operate, including several of the above-mentioned aspects.
Arbitrage practice
To fully cover the topic, we will study several judicial practices:
- The defendant stole property from a grocery store, and then went to the house of an acquaintance, with whom he was on hostile terms, with the goal of causing damage to the victim’s car. The defendant, according to his plan, threw 5 stones at the car, thereby causing significant damage to the victim’s property. A conviction was made under Article 167, and the court sentenced the defendant to 300 hours of compulsory labor.
- A tree fell on the victim's car. He brings charges against the city district administration and demands compensation for the damage caused to his car. The administration, in turn, states that the tree was located in a green area belonging to residents. During the meeting, a cadastral error was corrected: the tree was not located on a “green” plot. Also, the persons who contributed to the fall of the tree were not found. As a result, no basis for charges under Article 167 was found.
Recently, complaints against collection agencies have become more frequent as sources of threats to damage property. About this in the following video:
The threat of property damage, an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, implies violations that worsen the actual, economic characteristics of the appearance. In current legislation, the wording of property damage is determined by Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The intention to destroy any property must be considered as a real infliction of harm, in which the use of objects and things in the future is impossible.
Creating an effective company security service: step-by-step instructions
As mentioned earlier, today a business owner does not need to independently work on a plan for developing security structures in his enterprise. All calculations were written long ago by competent people - all that remains is to think about how to implement them.
Step 1. Select a goal
Search for explicit, implicit and criminal threats, followed by conclusions about how to avoid them.
Step 2. Setting goals
Prioritization and delegation of certain sectors of the overall task to individual specialists. Analysis of situations in which disaster has already occurred, with a full study of all possible consequences.
Step 3. Formation of a department
The maximum acceptable composition of the Security Council in a small enterprise should include three employees - a manager, a deputy and an auditor. A small company simply does not have enough funds for other positions. This is an important stage of the corporate security system.
Step 4. Budget calculation
SB is a structure that does not generate income, but directly affects the amount of all kinds of losses. According to statistics, the annual maintenance of such a department requires at least 3 million rubles.
Step 5. Search for professionals
Taking into account the track records, competencies, knowledge and skills of each person invited to work. It is advisable to give preference to specialists who previously worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, FSKN and FSO.
Characteristic signs of threat
The essence of the threat of destruction of property under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is the presence of direct intent. Such a criminal act will be illegal even without understanding how it was committed. The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation formulates the concept of threat of damage to property without any ambivalent interpretation.
In practice, the intention to destroy or spoil something can be realized by:
- arson;
- use of an explosive device;
- mechanical impact;
- intentional breakdown;
- other types of impact on the condition of property.
The object of encroachment, not without reason, perceives such intentions warily, with a sense of danger for the existing material benefits, therefore the measured rhythm of existence is disrupted.
Destruction of someone else's property by any action dangerous to society is possible only if there are clear intentions. The threat has significant consequences both for the individual and for society as a whole. The expressed intention to destroy property does not fall under a criminal act and, therefore, is not subject to criminal liability.
The concept of the threat of arson is formed by the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation through a socially dangerous act, which is a fire. The definition of a fire and the threat of its occurrence implies that a terrible event will occur, entailing the destruction of not only material objects, but also people’s lives. The crime will be considered void if no damage was caused to property.
Intentional arson is considered a criminal act set out in Article 167 of the Criminal Code. Even if there is a person suspected of damaging property in this way, the guilt of this subject is difficult to determine due to the lack of evidence. The flame, causing damage to property, destroys existing evidence. This article characterizes criminal actions by obligatory intent, as well as intentional damage to material assets.
Arson is mentioned by the Criminal Code in Article 205, related to terrorism, which in its essence is closely intertwined with the intention to sow fear in society, as well as at the same time cause damage to material values.
Damaging property that does not belong to the right of ownership is a punishable offense. Making something unusable is usually accompanied by a threat.
Such information may be provided:
- in oral form;
- in a written form;
- via the Internet;
- video material.
When a criminal delivers a threatening message to a target, the goal is to make a statement and gain fame with wide resonance.
Concepts of threat of destruction and damage
Destruction is understood as the absolute loss of the necessary parameters characterizing the factors of something material. Consequently, damage is a certain loss of certain useful qualities of things (in comparison with the original state).
The law defines two forms of liquidation and damage to things owned by someone:
- intentional actions;
- acts committed with negligence.
The legality of property ownership is the purpose of criminal intent. The object is foreign material goods.
Objectivity includes several integral factors:
- actions destroy or render unusable the property of strangers or organizations that does not belong to the right of ownership;
- as a result of the attacks, significant harm was caused;
- the presence of a desire to achieve specific consequences through intentional actions.
In case of intentional damage to property, when significant damage is caused, criminal acts are assessed as complete destruction. The amount of losses is considered an assessment parameter. Such crimes are characterized by signs of direct causation.
Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation represents the threat of causing damage to property as an attempt to destroy an object. Damage is characterized by causing significant damage, with the possibility of restoring damaged property. Losses caused by damage to someone else's property are assessed in monetary terms.
The concepts of these actions have a specific unified formulation. For example, arson is a deliberate fire, uncontrolled burning aimed at eliminating something.
Arson examination
If forest plantations or private property were damaged as a result of a fire, then an examination is required to establish the circumstances of the case. Most often, it is initiated by the injured party or the insurance company.
The examination allows us to establish the following:
- whether the arson was intentional or whether the fire occurred due to negligence;
- what damage was caused to the property owner;
- how the arson occurred;
- fire time;
- were there any dead?
In some cases, citizens set fire to their property in order to receive compensation from the insurance company. A properly conducted examination can identify such violations.
Peculiarities
It is impossible to hold the perpetrator accountable for threatening to damage or destroy inanimate objects without endangering health. As long as no damage is caused to material things, there will be no criminal act. Criminal legislation does not provide an unconditional standard of prosecution for threats.
The norms of Article 167 mean actions taken to liquidate and damage someone else’s property, carried out intentionally or thoughtlessly. The intentions to carry out these actions, which the attacker reported, regardless of the moment of the criminal acts, will serve as additional evidence of guilt.
Criminal acts are usually committed in relation to:
- real estate;
- other material assets owned;
- people's health;
- animal life.
Damage to property can be caused without direct intent. The intentionality of guilty acts can be determined by threats made against damage to material assets. The type of intentional acts does not affect the severity, since the law-breaking event will occur on its own.
Implemented actions on the promise to deprive the rightful owner of property benefits are assessed by the norms of criminal law. The desire of the attacker to cause harm consists of the desire to frighten, to instill fear in the victim, to do this immediately or in the near future, to deprive of property that never belonged to the criminal.
Illegal actions consisting of statements about impending damage to any valuables are carried out if the victim takes such a message personally as real intimidation. A threatening message about damage to property will always be completed, regardless of the method of receipt.
There are several such methods:
- handwritten;
- oral speech;
- using hand gestures;
- through a third party;
- during the display of an object that is supposed to realize intentions.
A mandatory characteristic feature of danger should be considered the presence of real grounds for its occurrence followed by the event of the promised act.
The victims during the declared upcoming liquidation of material assets are considered to be:
- persons who own property in accordance with the procedure established by law;
- owners of real estate and valuable resources;
- persons guarding dangerous objects;
- persons directly using things.
The intention to liquidate someone else's property is considered arbitrary on the part of criminal elements, whose excessive activity is aimed at threatening and frightening the object with the loss of material wealth, dealing with them at all costs and by all available methods.
Certain criminal attacks, defined by Article 167, are considered non-mercenary in nature, but at the same time cause significant damage not only to the property of citizens, but also to the state. Forest fires cause economic damage in this regard.
Objectivity and subjectivity of the threat
In these acts, property and the psychological inadmissibility of changing people's personal activities are the object. The purpose of encroachment is recognized to be other people's material wealth in various manifestations of property. Objectivity is determined by the risk of destruction of material assets and the feasibility of promises to realize criminal intentions.
The following should be considered proof of a serious desire to carry out the threat:
- environment;
- place of action;
- form of manifestation;
- relationship between the two parties.
The most realistic intentions will be those expressed once or repeatedly by a person convicted for any reason. The events are assessed by the justice authorities, taking into account the objectivity and subjectivity of the actions.
The content of complete destruction or partial damage is determined by criminal law. Objectivity lies in the legal ownership of property. In addition to material things, the objects of encroachment must also be recognized as the right to own objects, including exclusive rights. The objective nature is compiled according to material principles, although careless actions that resulted in damage are determined by the type and instrument of commission.
Subjectivity consists in the awareness by the person committing threatening manifestations that the intentional actions he commits cause fear of the other party. A subject is a person who has reached the age of criminal responsibility.
In addition, the differentiation of the composition in question from similar acts, such as destruction of property and hooliganism with the absence of a legal formulation of the latter, plays a significant role directly at the moment when the desire to cause harm arises.
If the subject, when destroying, was guided by hooligan motives, then Article 167 together with Article 213 should be considered only when the perpetrator uses any instrument of crime.
Criminal actions characterized by socially dangerous manifestations, a clear desire to destroy and spoil other people's property should be qualified by additional criteria.
How to justify your security budget
Risk management will help manage the problems of the enterprise. The security service must analyze and calculate risks, building the entire work system based on data. To justify the service budget, the security director must be able to assess risks and draw up risk maps that plan measures to minimize them, as well as allocate funds to combat them.
The article was prepared based on a lecture by Sergei Barbashev, a teacher at the Russian School of Management, an expert in corporate security.
Develop with us: the catalog of the Russian School of Management contains more than 700 online broadcasts and 500 distance courses. Learn in a convenient format anytime and anywhere! Svetlana Shcherbak Author of the media portal of the Russian School of Management
