Corpus delicti
In order to recognize an act as a crime, all the elements of a crime must be present.
- The object of any offense is public relations, interests, and human rights. The object of extortion is double - firstly, an attack is committed on someone else’s property, and secondly, on a person’s life, health or personal information.
- The objective side is a set of certain actions and the consequences that arise after them. In this case, actions are demands for the transfer of property or rights to it, as well as the use of threats. The consequence can be either the loss of property or the implementation of the criminal’s intentions. Moreover, the presence of consequences does not matter - the crime is considered completed at the moment when the threat is expressed, without putting it into practice.
- Subject. Sanctions under Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are provided for persons over 14 years of age.
- The subjective side is those motives that prompt a person to commit an act, the goals of the act, as well as the subject’s internal attitude towards his actions. The goal is obvious - obtaining property benefits, and the attitude is characterized by direct guilt - the person must be aware that he is committing an illegal action and consciously strive for it.
NOTE! The Criminal Code provides for liability not only for extortion of money, but also for any property or rights to it. These can be cell phones, equipment, jewelry, clothing, as well as documents on the transfer of rights - sales and purchase agreements, donations, wills, etc.
What is needed to bring an extortionist to criminal liability?
The basis for initiating a criminal case for extortion, according to Article 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, is the presence of a statement of crime, a confession, a report of a crime received from other sources, as well as a prosecutor’s resolution.
Note!
To bring criminal liability for extortion, it is necessary that the fact of the commission of the crime and the guilt of the accused be proven in whole or in part.
It is also necessary that the statute of limitations for the crime has not passed. In cases of extortion, it ranges from 2 to 6 years from the date of commission of the crime. In addition, to be prosecuted, the extortionist must be 16 years of age.
Difference from other types of crimes
Only if all the above-mentioned signs of a crime are present can it be considered extortion. If there are differences, then it is a different type of offense.
Most often, extortion is confused with robbery, theft and robbery. What's the difference between them? Articles for extortion of money (163), robbery (162), theft/theft (158) and robbery (161) provide for different crimes.
Articles for extortion and robbery provide for different punishments
Robbery is an attack committed with the aim of stealing someone else's property, involving the threat or use of violence.
The first mandatory element of the crime of robbery is assault, the second is violence or the threat of its use. In the case of extortion, there will be no attack or violence, only a threat. Extortionists use psychological pressure without resorting to physical actions.
Thus, what these crimes have in common is illegal demands for property and threats. Distinctive features are the presence or absence of an attack, the use of violence.
Theft is the seizure of property without the use of additional means - threats and demands. Moreover, theft can be open (robbery), when money or things are simply taken from the victim in his presence, or ordinary theft.
The main difference between robbery and extortion is the difference in time. Robbery is committed here and now, and extortion is aimed at obtaining money in the future, that is, it is extended over time. In addition, threats and violence in the case of robbery also occur at the same moment as the taking of property, and are real; in extortion, they are promises to commit them sooner or later.
INTERESTING. A demand for the return of money on a receipt or loan, accompanied by threats, is not considered extortion, since the criminal has the right to legally receive funds (through a claim or court). This act falls under Art. 330 Arbitrariness.
Is it possible to identify the blackmailer?
Think about it: what might VKontakte know about a blackmailer? Last name, first name, patronymic, home address, place of work? Of course not. Phone number? IP address? What would such information tell you? Fraudsters use disposable phone numbers; you are unlikely to be able to reach them. By IP address you will find out that the person was somewhere in a city 5 thousand kilometers away from you. And what?
Next: imagine that VK gives you some information about the blackmailer, you find him and, for the purpose of revenge, commit some crime. Does VK want to become an accomplice of another criminal? But let's say you want to get information about the blackmailer and go to the police with it. So go to the police, as indicated at the beginning. When necessary, the police themselves will receive the necessary information from the VK administration.
Features of the crime
Extortion on the Internet
Modern technologies also create modern problems. One of the most common types of extortion involves the use of Internet technologies.
The most popular cases are:
- Blackmail using information compromising a person - personal or business correspondence, photographs, videos. According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, extortion in this case is accompanied by another crime - hacking.
- Demand for funds with the threat of hacking or attacking an Internet site, remote store, or other online resources.
Telephone extortion
A very common type of crime. Most often, scammers require:
- payment of a non-existent loan or a loan for another person (relative, friend);
- repayment of an existing loan, but using legally prohibited means (often used by debt collectors);
- money for “saving” a close relative in trouble.
In an educational institution
One of the most common types of extortion in our country. Many people do not even consider this act a crime.
Collections from parents often require:
- for admission to a kindergarten (out of turn, not at the place of residence), to a school (not according to registration), to a secondary or higher educational institution;
- for stationery, purchase of toys, furniture, equipment, etc.,
- repair of a group, classroom, office, garden, school, institute;
- payment of security guards, purchase of security video equipment;
- for the purchase of textbooks, manuals, teaching materials, supplies for teachers (paper, printers, etc.).
ATTENTION! The requirement to purchase clothes for a child in accordance with the dress code established by the Charter is legal. Parents must provide the child with the appropriate uniform. The only thing that is illegal is the condition of purchasing clothes in a specific place.
In the hospital
In medical institutions there is another, specific extortion. Art. 163 does not speak about it directly, but implies it. This is a threat not by action, but by inaction. For example, a promise to delay an urgent operation, or to perform it poorly if the money is not received in advance.
At work
Cases of extortion at work include:
- payment of losses, shortages without legal grounds (lack of audit, for those days when the person did not work, in relation to a person not financially responsible);
- gathering for events, holidays, without the employee’s desire;
- arrangement of the workplace, acquisition of tools and equipment, repair work;
- various types of charitable contributions;
- forced repurchase of enterprise products or use of services.
Extortion from minors
The most common type of extortion from a minor is older students demanding money or valuable property from younger students. Sometimes classmates also make such threats. What should you do in this situation?
Parents can contact the legal representatives of the hooligans (parents, guardians) or, bypassing them, directly to the teaching staff of the educational institution. Sometimes both the teacher and the class teacher can influence children. If this does not help, you should contact the head teacher or director. If there is no response from the above-mentioned persons, it is necessary to submit a statement to the Juvenile Affairs Committee (Commission on Minors) or to the police.
It should be remembered that criminal liability for extortion (clause 2 of Article 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) begins at the age of 14; if the offender is younger, his parents will bear the punishment.
The term for extortion can be received at the age of 14 years.
Term for extortion
Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for punishment for extortion. If the crime is committed without aggravating circumstances, the convicted person may receive:
- restriction of freedom (up to 4 years);
- forced labor for the same period;
- forced labor associated with restriction of freedom (up to 2 years);
- arrest (up to 6 months);
- imprisonment (up to 4 years);
- similar imprisonment and a fine of 80,000 rubles. or six months' earnings.
If extortion is committed on a large scale, the following types of punishment are provided:
- imprisonment (up to 7 years);
- imprisonment and a fine of up to 500,000 rubles. or three years' earnings
- all of the above plus restriction of freedom for up to 2 years.
Complex crimes (committed by an organized group, on a particularly large scale, causing grievous harm to health) are provided for in Part 3 of the article for extortion of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The term of imprisonment increases from 7 to 15 years, a fine of up to a million or income for five years and restriction of freedom up to 2 years.
THIS IS INTERESTING. An amount over 250,000 rubles is considered large, and especially large – 1 million rubles.
Sanctions under Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation depend on the amount and the presence of aggravating circumstances
How to behave
If they demand money or other property from you, you must follow a few simple rules:
- remain calm, do not give in to provocations, do not follow your initial emotions;
- agree with the requirements, but come up with a way to stall for time (there is no money available, you need to collect it, the card is lost or seized, etc.);
- collect the maximum amount of evidence of the offense (dictaphones, audio, video recordings, witnesses);
- contact law enforcement agencies.
How to correctly write a statement about extortion (sample for downloading)
Reports of criminal offenses are filed with the police at the place where the offense was committed (even if you are in a foreign city). The document should indicate:
- data of the victim;
- date of commission of the crime;
- circumstances of the act (place, reason, size of property required, what threats were used)
- ransomware data (maximum known);
- the date, place and circumstances under which the property must be transferred.
The application must indicate what other evidence is available. If you know that this is not the first ransomware crime, try to contact other victims. Proving this offense if there are collective statements is much easier.
According to statistics, extortion is one of the few crimes whose number has recently begun to decline.
The increase in punishment under the article of the Criminal Code played a significant role. Extortion of money becomes a more complex action, with various opportunities to collect evidence (video, audio, which the criminal may not notice). I would like to believe that these statistics show a real decrease in crime, and not an increase in the sophistication of criminals who are difficult to catch in the act. Order a free legal consultation
Telephone scam
- If the numbers of the victim and the scammer (to which the money was transferred) are serviced by the same cellular company, you should try to contact the operator as soon as possible. It is possible to return the stolen amount to your phone account.
- File a civil lawsuit for damages, since the task of law enforcement agencies is precisely to find violators, and not to recover damages from them.
- In cases where funds are debited from a bank card in an unknown way (without contact with the victim), you additionally need to contact the bank. This institution (according to the decision of the Central Bank adopted in 2022) undertakes to compensate the client for the damage incurred. The decision is justified by the responsibility of the banking institution for inadequate protection of plastic cards, which allowed the criminal to take possession of the funds.
