Article for fraud (Criminal Code)

In modern Russia, fraud is very widespread. It is very diverse and is considered a mass phenomenon. Further we will consider what fraud is, which article establishes liability for this crime.

General information

The actions of scammers are aimed at various values. In particular, the targets of criminals are:

• Material well-being. Attackers take possession of other people's property, money, information.
• Mental and physical health.
• Consciousness influenced by scammers.

Based on the list above, we can distinguish the main types of fraud:

• Property and financial.
• Magical, alternative, extrasensory, "folk" and other forms of healing.
• Psycho-practitioners, pseudo-scientific services.
• Suggestion and misinformation through the media and so on.

What is fraud? Which article establishes liability?

This crime is an interaction between two or more people. The success of the attacker is the defeat of the victim. But at the same time, the effectiveness of the actions of the criminal is impossible without the complicity of the “client”. This act characterizes Article 159 of the Criminal Code. Fraud, according to the norm, is the theft of someone's property or gaining rights to it through abuse of trust or fraudulently.

Preventive measure

Article 159. 1 “Fraud” establishes the following punishment:

1. Fine. Its amount is 200-700 minimum wages or the size of the guilty income (salary) for 2-7 months.
2. Mandatory work for 180-240 hours.
3. Imprisonment up to 3 years.
4. Correctional work for 4-6 months.

Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Fraud” provides for a more serious punishment for a crime committed by:

1. A group of persons in a preliminary conspiracy.
2. Repeatedly.
3. With causing substantial damage to the victim.
4. Using official position.

In these cases, the article for fraud imposes a penalty of:

1. A fine in the amount of 700-1000 minimum wages or in the amount of the convict's income (salary) for 7-12 months.
2. Deprivation of liberty. This punishment involves a period of 2-6 years with a recovery of 50 minimum wages or monthly income or without it.

Article 159 of the Criminal Code "Fraud" also defines preventive measures for persons who have committed a crime:

1. As part of an organized group.
2. In large size.
3. Previously, or more than 1 time convicted of extortion or theft.

For these entities, Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Fraud" (new edition) provides for imprisonment of 5-10 years. At the same time, depending on the circumstances, property may be confiscated.

Criminal Code: Fraud (article and comments)

This crime is considered as a form of theft. In this regard, it is included in the Penal Code. The article stipulated by law qualifies fraud on the basis of theft. In this case, you should pay attention to one caveat. The definition of fraud, which is present in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, at the first examination is not much different from that given in the legislation of the RSFSR of 1960. In the latter, in particular, the term "theft" was missing. Moreover, article 147 of the Criminal Code defined fraud as taking possession of someone else’s property or acquiring rights to it.

Thus, the main difference is the terminological combination. Meanwhile, seizure and theft are far from equivalent concepts. This is due to the fact that one does not always equate to the second. For example, you can take possession of property for a while - borrow from a friend, not having the intention and intent to abduct him.Given this, it is likely that in the current legislation, article 159 defines fraud precisely as theft. In terms of legal technology This design can be considered quite justified. This is explained by the fact that the legislator thus narrows the scope and range of situations in which individuals can be held accountable.

Subject of assault

The article for fraud as an object of a crime considers not only the property itself, but also the rights to it. The characterization of this concept may in practice cause a number of difficulties for investigators or interrogators. The right to any property may be secured by various documents. For example, it can be an insurance policy, a will, a power of attorney to receive any values, and so on. Property rights, which are certified by registered paper, shall be transferred in the manner determined for the assignment, and by order - by endorsement (making the corresponding transfer record on it). It is such documents that often become the subject of a variety of fraudulent transactions. From the moment the attacker receives the paper, in accordance with which he received the right to property, the offense is considered completed. It doesn’t matter if he really managed to acquire a thing (value) in cash or in kind or not.

The specifics of the crime

The peculiarity of fraud is that the victim, as it were, voluntarily transfers or alienates his own property to the attacker in another way. The offender behaves in such a way that the appearance of the fact that ownership has passed to him legally is formed. However, prosecutors who oversee the investigation, as well as the investigators themselves, need to remember that under Art. 209 CC alienation of property may be carried out with the consent or on behalf of the owner. Since the owner did not express his will to do so, the attacker, through a breach of trust or fraudulently, actually seized the thing. These two actions, in fact, form the objective side of the crime, but the article for fraud does not disclose these concepts.

Cheating

In practice, it is usually understood as the deliberate concealment or distortion of truth in order to introduce a person in whose possession the property is misleading and to report false information for the same purpose. In other words, the deliberate misinformation of the counterparty or any other person is a hoax. This concept is quite broad and covers different aspects of life. In particular, it includes not only the provision of false information, but also the fact of silence of the truth or silence of something. Thus, the distortion of information itself must be intentional. In the absence of intent, there will be no fraud. This element is mandatory in order to recognize the act as a crime.

Qualifying Aspects

It is necessary to distinguish fraud, which manifests itself in the use of false documents, from cases when a citizen gets a job by presenting a fake diploma, and then receives a salary for performing duties in the position that he is not entitled to hold.

Consider an example. A citizen provided the personnel department with a fake diploma and was hired by the staff as the head of the enterprise. Occupying this post, he quite successfully coped with his duties. In this case, there is no fraud associated with the theft of money, as the person received his salary in accordance with the staffing table. In this situation, the citizen will bear responsibility under Art. 327 of the Criminal Code. It is necessary to distinguish between forgery and the use of false documents to get work from cases when this is done in order to obtain the rights to a higher salary or percentage allowance. In the latter case, the behavior is regarded as self-serving and is aimed at theft.

Deception classification

In this act, an active and passive element is distinguished. The first occurs when the content of the fraud is formed by different circumstances in respect of which the attacker misleads the victim. Passivity is manifested in the failure to report facts that could deter the owner from transferring his property. Often fraud contains a false promise. It consists not only in distorting the real facts, but also in providing false information about the intentions that the criminal really has.

Common types of cheating

Fraud in this way manifests itself in different ways. Deception may be verbal or written, as well as be expressed in any action. The latter, for example, include cheating, money transfer, changes to information contained in electronic form (online fraud). The article, which provides liability for such acts, is far from applicable in all cases.

New types of atrocities

The intensity of the development of market relations has formed the prerequisites for the appearance of various types of fraud. New types, in particular, include illegal actions with banking and credit operations, computers, real estate and insurance transactions, and so on. The traditional idea of ​​fraud allows us to qualify these acts as well, but with minor reservations.

Assigning loans and credits

This is a fairly common form of fraud today. Many businessmen, especially in the early stages of development of their enterprises, take loans and credits. However, as practice shows, these funds are often used for other purposes and are not repaid in a timely manner. Lending involves the parties entering into the relevant legal relations on the basis of a loan agreement. The Bank transfers the amount for a specified period for subsequent use by the entrepreneur for the intended purpose with the condition of return. For non-performance of the contract, the borrower is liable with his property. Art. 807-818 Civil Code regulates such legal relations. Previously, misuse of credit funds entailed only civil liability.

In the modern Criminal Code, Art. 177 on malicious evasion of debt repayment. But in practice this provision does not apply. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the disposition of the provision states that a person’s liability will only come on the basis of a court decision that has entered into force. This means that the bank must apply to the appropriate authority. Before the decision is made, time will pass. Even if the court order is in favor of the plaintiff, the defendant may appeal it. In this case, the decision will be suspended.

Thus, the composition of this crime is recognized as continuing. In addition, lawyers point to the competition of Art. 177 and Art. 312 (paragraph 1) and especially with Art. 315. The misappropriation of funds of a credit institution is accompanied by various actions. In particular, the creation of shell companies, the use of fake documents that create the appearance of financial security of the company, the provision of pledged or defective property as collateral, and so on. If the intent of the criminals is aimed at the appropriation of funds, then the article of the Criminal Code "Fraud" will apply. But in some cases, it is practically impossible to prove that at the time of receipt of the funds the borrower did not expect to return them. The entrepreneur himself can always explain his behavior with commercial failures or risk under Art. 2 GK. In this regard, during the investigation, it is necessary to collect evidence indicating the frequency of such acts, intentionality in non-compliance with the terms of the agreement, and so on. In practice, this all takes a lot of time, which criminals use in their interests.Thus, Art. 177, 315, 312 and the article “Fraud” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation differentiate extremely problematically.

Trust abuse

This is the second sign that the article “Fraud” will apply to the crime. In the Russian Federation, this method of embezzlement is less common than deception. It consists in the fact that the attacker uses the trusting relationship that has developed between the victim and him. Typically, such interactions result from civil law relationships. However, they often accompany labor relations. For example, one person enters into an agreement with another to provide a particular service. "Contractor" receives payment, but does not perform work and has no intentions to do so. In this case, the article “Fraud” will be applied to the perpetrator. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation likewise qualifies the behavior of the criminal who received the goods for commission or sale and turned it in, as well as the proceeds from transactions with him, in his favor, without having the intention to pay off the obligation to the supplier.

Damage as a mandatory element of an act

Recently, theft of non-cash funds has been occurring quite often. If the offender credited money to any account and can dispose of it as personal, the act should be considered completed. As a fraud, it is recognized that the acquisition of rights to the living space, which relates to state property. Paragraph "g" of part 2 of the commented norm refers to damage to the victim. The concept of large size directly sets 158 article. For fraud with damage, compensation may be awarded under Art. 393 Civil Code. It establishes the corresponding duty of the debtor.

The amount of property damage is considered in some cases by the totality of its conditions. That is, the elements that form it are taken into account. Major damage, for example, consists of lost profits and a positive amount, which is equal to the value of the lost property. If the last component is smaller than the size that the offender sought to take possession of, the act does not fall under subsection “b” of part 3, which includes the article in question. For fraud in this case, in the absence of other qualifying features, liability will come in part one of the same rule.

Official position

The legislator introduces this attribute as qualifying completely justified. The fact is that most of the thefts are carried out using official position. The specificity of this act is that the objective part in this case will consist of two actions. If we take them separately, then each will act as an independent crime: fraud itself and abuse of authority. At the same time, the latter forms an opportunity for theft, precedes the appropriation of material values. Abuse of official duties is possible only at the place of their implementation and within the framework of certain functional duties.