Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Fraud

Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Fraud (current edition)

1. Fraud, that is, theft of someone else’s property or the acquisition of rights to someone else’s property through deception or abuse of trust, -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one hundred twenty thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to three hundred and sixty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to one year, or by restriction of liberty 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 four months, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years.

2. Fraud committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, as well as causing significant damage to a citizen, -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to three hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years, 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 forced labor for a term of up to five years. with restriction of freedom for a term of up to one year or without it, or imprisonment for a term of up to five years with restriction of freedom for a term of up to one year or without it.

3. Fraud committed by a person using his official position, as well as on a large scale, -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to three years, or by forced labor for a term of up to five years with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years, or imprisonment for a term of up to six years with 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 without it and with restriction of freedom for a term of up to one and a half years or without it.

4. Fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale or resulting in the deprivation of a citizen’s right to residential premises, -

shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to ten years with or without a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three years and with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years.

5. Fraud associated with deliberate failure to fulfill contractual obligations in the field of business activity, if this act entailed causing significant damage -

6. The act provided for in part five of this article, committed on a large scale, -

7. An act provided for in part five of this article, committed on an especially large scale, -

Notes. 1. Significant damage in part five of this article is considered to be damage in an amount of at least ten thousand rubles.

2. Large size in part six of this article is the value of property exceeding three million rubles.

3. In part seven of this article, the value of property exceeding twelve million rubles is recognized as particularly large in size.

4. Parts five to seven of this article apply to cases of deliberate failure to fulfill contractual obligations in the field of business activity, when the parties to the agreement are individual entrepreneurs and (or) commercial organizations.

What is Fraud

This is the theft of someone else's property or the acquisition of rights to someone else's property through deception or abuse of trust, simply put - theft). In fact, this is the use of property or rights to it that does not belong to you; for this you commit an illegal act; you act for selfish reasons (to take benefits from the victim); you cause material damage to someone (there is an injured party).

For example, an attacker asks a passerby for a mobile phone to make a vital call and, having received what he wants, immediately disappears with the loot. The Criminal Code regards this as robbery. Finally, when property falls into the hands of an attacker by threatening the owner, this is not fraud, but extortion.

○ Methods of proving fraud.

Like any crime, fraud must be proven in order for the person who committed it to be punished. In this case, it is necessary to prove the presence of malicious intent, which means confirmation of one of two essential conditions characterizing this crime:

Fact of deception.
A fact of abuse of trust.

✔ Evidence of deception.

Confirmation of this act is:

Providing the victim with information that is known to be false.
Concealing from him information that affects the outcome of the transaction.
Providing false information about a specific item (replacing the original with a fake or providing incorrect information).
Committing any actions that misled the victim and contributed to the commission of an illegal act.

It is important to consider that if the deception was unintentional, it is not classified under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

✔ Evidence of breach of trust.

A similar situation, as a rule, occurs with people connected by friendly or family ties, due to which they carry out financial actions without documenting them. Signs of abuse of trust are if the fraudster used monetary and other means leading to enrichment in the following cases:

The transfer of finances, documents or property was carried out without supporting documents (receipts, acceptance certificate) and witnesses.
The parties drew up a document allowing them to trust each other, but it seemed fake.
The fraudster has significant financial resources or social status that has earned the victim’s trust.
The culprit received funds as an advance payment, thereby confirming his readiness to fulfill his obligations.

If the case is not completed, that is, the criminal did not take possession of the money and did not take ownership of the property, then this action is not classified as fraud.

○ Active repentance.

A person who has committed a crime of minor or medium gravity for the first time may be released from criminal liability if, after committing the crime, he voluntarily confessed, contributed to the disclosure and investigation of this crime, compensated for the damage or otherwise made amends for the harm caused by this crime, and, due to active repentance, stopped be socially dangerous. (Clause 1 of Article 75 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Since fraud is of minor or moderate severity (depending on the damage), in this case, active repentance may become the basis for exemption from criminal liability. The exception is theft on an especially large scale, which caused significant damage to the victim.

Severity and mitigation of sanctions

A less severe punishment may be established based on the provisions of Article 64 of the Criminal Code. This provision provides that the body authorized to hear the case has the opportunity to apply milder sanctions or not to use additional coercive measures. Such decisions may be determined by the presence of factors relating to the motives and goals of the act, the direct role of the subject in the crime, and the nature of his behavior when committing illegal actions. Other circumstances that significantly reduce the level of public threat can also influence the mitigation of sanctions. More stringent than provided for in Art. 159, part 3 or 4, a measure of coercion can be used in case of a combination of crimes. This means that a person is charged with several charges at the same time. Also, tougher sanctions take place if the person accused of fraud has another outstanding punishment on the date of the trial of the crime.

○ Circumstances mitigating guilt and sentence.

Mitigating circumstances are specified in Art. 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and are also applied in case of committing fraudulent actions in the same way as in other crimes. These include:

Age (if the offender has not reached the age of majority).
Pregnancy.
Presence of a young child(ren).
Reasons for committing a crime: difficult life circumstances or motivated by compassion.
Committing illegal acts under coercion (physical or mental).
Certain behavior of the victim that became the reason for committing a crime (immorality or illegality).
Turning in and assisting the investigation.
Providing any type of assistance to the victim after the commission of a crime.

○ Advice from a lawyer:

✔ Committed fraudulent actions at the request of the head of the department. The damage to the employer's company amounted to about 300,000 rubles. Will having children be a mitigating factor?

Yes, the presence of young children is a mitigating circumstance, according to Art. 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. You can also voluntarily come to the police and admit your guilt. Active repentance will also be the basis for release from liability.

✔ The social worker gained the trust of the grandmother, and she transferred the apartment to her through a gift agreement. Now the social worker is kicking the grandmother out onto the street. Can such actions be considered fraud and how to cancel the deed of gift?

Yes, this is a fact of fraud based on abuse of trust of the victim. You need to contact the police with a statement. If the grandmother has health problems (for example, with memory), this will also help win the case and invalidate the contract on the basis that the donor was incompetent.

Video

Specialist Fatulla Musaev explains the essence of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud) and methods of protection from criminal prosecution under this article.

Published by: Vadim Kalyuzhny , specialist of the TopYurist.RU portal

○ Aggravating circumstances.

Like mitigating circumstances, aggravating circumstances are general and are specified in Art. 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. These include:

Relapse.
The onset of serious consequences after committing illegal actions.
Group crime.
Increased activity in committing illegal actions.
Involvement of incompetent and minor persons in the act.
The presence of certain motives: political, racial, national, religious, ideological.
If the victim was in the performance of official or public duty.
If the victim is a pregnant woman, a minor or another defenseless person.
The presence of special cruelty in the commission of a crime (sadism, torment of the victim).
Use of any weapon.
Committing illegal actions in conditions of a natural disaster or mass disorder.
Use of official position.
Use of a form or documents of a government representative.
Committing a crime by law enforcement officers.
Any support for terrorism.
Commitment of a crime by a parent or person replacing him, as well as by teaching, medical and other employees of an organization supervising minors in relation to a person under 18 years of age.

Corpus delicti

The subject of this crime is a person over 16 years of age or a group of persons acting in a preliminary conspiracy to commit fraudulent acts against the victim of a crime. The circle of subjects also includes persons whose inaction contributed to the attempt to commit this crime.
The subjective side qualifies the desire to take possession of property that does not belong to the attackers by abusing the trust of the victim or deceiving her.
The object of attempted fraud may be money or any other property of the victim that the subject of the crime intended to take possession of.
The objective side of this crime is the actions of fraudsters from the moment of committing a criminal act until the occurrence of circumstances that prevented the crime from being completed.

We talked in detail about the elements of the crime of “fraud” in this material.