Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 17, 2015 N 56, Moscow “On judicial practice in cases of extortion (Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)”

Corpus delicti

An object

This is the property of another person and its inviolability, guaranteed by the Constitution of Russia.

Subject

This is a blackmailer who must have three characteristics:

• sanity;
• capacity;
• age from 14 years.

Objective side

This is an act that consists of two parts:

• demand for money, property or rights to it, for example, drawing up a deed of gift for an apartment;
• threat of committing any violent actions against the victim or his relatives.

Violence can be expressed in physical violence, for example, in beatings, or it can be psychological in nature, for example, a blackmailer can threaten the victim with the dissemination of information that constitutes her personal secret.

Subjective side

The crime is committed with intent, that is, the extortionist realizes the criminal nature of his actions and continues to commit them.

Punishment under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Punishment for extortion is established by Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In accordance with it, extortion of money and threats is punishable by one of the following measures, depending on the court decision:

• restriction of freedom for up to 4 years;
• forced labor for up to 4 years with or without restriction of freedom for up to 2 years;
• arrest for up to 6 months;
• imprisonment for a term of up to 4 years with a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles or in the amount of the income of the convicted person for a period of up to 6 months or without a fine.

If the crime was committed with aggravating circumstances, namely:

• extortion by a group of persons by prior conspiracy;
• demand for funds and property in large quantities;
• extortion with violence.

In this case, in accordance with Part 2 of Article 163, extortion of money or any other property is punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to 7 years with a fine of up to 500,000 rubles or in the amount of the income of the convicted person for a period of up to 3 years or without a fine and with restriction of freedom for a period of up to 2 years or no.

Extortion by an organized group of persons, either causing grievous harm to the health of the victim, or extortion on a particularly large scale in accordance with Part 3 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 7 to 15 years. Also, the convicted person may be given a fine of up to 1 million rubles or in the amount of income for a period of up to 5 years and restriction of freedom for up to 2 years.

Please note that the age of criminal responsibility for extortion is 14 years.

Recommendations for victims of blackmail

Refusal to comply with the blackmailers' demands

If you agree to their terms, the extortion will continue for a long time until it exhausts the victim and causes him significant material damage. It is necessary to immediately explain to the blackmailer that his demands will not be met.

Contacting the police

After the first threat from the extortionist, you must submit a statement to the police department at the place where the crime was committed. If you refuse to accept it, you should send a complaint to the prosecutor's office.

Victims are afraid of contacting the police, but extortionists fear this even more, so in most cases they immediately stop their actions.

Contacting the organization's own security service

In cases of blackmail committed by officials, for example, bank employees or debt collectors, you can call the control structure and provide evidence.

How to deal with a blackmailer?

Not always the threats of blackmailers are truly dangerous and have any real possibility of influencing the victim. Often such threats are just words that have nothing behind them. Do not panic when receiving threats from suspicious individuals. The main thing is to adhere to the correct tactics of communicating with such people.

So, the algorithm for interacting with a blackmailer can be described as follows:

• Do not show him your weakness and fear of his threats;
• Protect yourself as much as possible from communicating with suspicious individuals;
• Openly tell blackmailers that you know the law and know what they are facing;
• Save all correspondence and record all conversations;
• Contact the police and ask the officers to confirm that they accepted your application.

Blackmail is often limited to psychological manipulation and influence. The winner in such a fight is always the one who is stronger in spirit and will. Law enforcement agencies often do not want to investigate such cases and give formal replies to them. Always, if such an unfounded reply is received, the victim can forward complaints about the work of employees to higher authorities - the chief of police or the prosecutor's office. It would be good if you have witnesses who saw or heard the threats coming towards you. Their testimony can play into your hands when proving extortion or blackmail to the police and the court.

What subtleties must be kept in mind when extorting?

The Plenum of the Supreme Court in 1990 adopted the Resolution “On judicial practice in cases of extortion,” which was later amended. Since the world and relationships in it change very often, by 2010 it became clear that the norms specified in the resolution were contrary to reality and did not reflect it.

Therefore, on December 17, 2015, a new Resolution “On judicial practice in cases of extortion” No. 56 was adopted. It reflects modern practice, and this is what the courts should use when deciding issues of extortion in 2021 and subsequent years.

What is important in the resolution?

1. The extortionist may act with the intent of obtaining benefits for himself OR FOR OTHER PERSONS (clause 1).
2. The threat against the victim must be perceived as real, as if the perpetrator could carry it out at any time (clause 6).
3. If the victim does not comply with the extortionist’s demand, this does not affect the assessment of the act. It will still be recognized as extortion (clause 7).
4. It is necessary to consider the requirement for monthly/weekly transfer of property to the perpetrator as a single crime (clause 8).
5. If extortion involves beatings, then additional qualifications are carried out under other articles of the Criminal Code (clause 9).
6. If during the course of extortion the threat of divulging bank secrets, commercial secrets, or disseminating knowingly false information becomes a reality, then additional qualifications are carried out (clause 12).
7. If the demand for the transfer of property is lawful, but is accompanied by threats, then the composition provided for in Art. 163 of the Criminal Code, no. Qualification under other articles is possible (arbitrariness).

IMPORTANT! This point No. 13 needs to be known and understood by bank debtors who constantly receive calls from collection agencies or from the bank demanding the return of an overdue loan and interest for use. Such a requirement is legal, therefore there is no qualification under Art. 163 of the Criminal Code.

Unknown companies often send bills to residents of apartment buildings for home maintenance, but they are not the service organization. The letters specify the amount the person must pay + a threat to go to court if the specified invoice is not paid. A legal entity cannot be held criminally liable for extortion. But you can contact the police to report fraud.

How does ransomware work? How to prove his actions?

There are several options: you do everything yourself or file a report of extortion with the police.

INTERESTING! Extortion is one of the highly latent (“hidden”) crimes. Not every victim has the strength and opportunity to contact the police, which is only in the hands of criminals.

Self-resolution of the case

If you come to the attention of extortionists, then remain calm and do not be led by your emotions and experiences. If you were unable to get rid of the ransomware, then you can pretend as if you are ready to satisfy its demands, and then start stalling for time. You can independently collect evidence that can confirm the wrongfulness of the culprit’s actions.

Use witness statements, try not to stay at home alone. Extortionists will demand that you satisfy their desires, and witnesses, if necessary, will confirm this in court.

Use an audio or video recording (a voice recorder, a hidden camera, a security camera, or other means) to record the conversation with the attacker. While recording, try to “play along” with the attacker. Ask about the amount, time and method of transfer, amount and much more. Then become indignant and refuse to hand over the money: your interlocutor will clearly begin to threaten unpleasant consequences for you.

Try to find people like you who have suffered from extortion. For example, very often dozens of people become victims of one official. Of course, not every one of them will agree to tell their story. But with their support, it will be easier to prove the same extortion of a bribe.

IMPORTANT! Very often you receive a message on your phone that your loved one has had an accident and that he urgently needs financial help. Act scared and force your interlocutor to interrupt the conversation. The next time he calls, you will be prepared, you will be able to ask adequate questions and get answers to them.

Arbitrage practice

According to judicial statistics, under Art. 163 of the Criminal Code most often results in convictions, more than half of the accused receive real prison sentences, about a third of extortionists leave the courtroom with suspended sentences and impressive fines. The article on racketeering determines the aggravating factors of the crime, which include physical harm to health, the participation of a group of people in committing violent acts against the victim, as well as large amounts of property or financial damage.

In the course of illegal demands, victims suffer moral harm in the form of emotional distress. Criminal law does not provide for compensation for such damage. However, if the victim files a claim in civil proceedings, the convicted person will be awarded compensation for the suffering suffered. Extortion/racketeering is a difficult crime to interpret, requiring a special approach from legislators, law enforcement officers and victims, since this article can even be applied to family members and other relatives.

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Procedure

Let's decide who can threaten. The source of danger may be people completely unknown to you, who have set their goal to get money from you; these may be creditors, collectors, or may be acquaintances to whom you actually owe money. Regardless of who they come from, they are not legal.

Another thing is that, in accordance with paragraph 13 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court No. 59 of December 17, 2015, a legitimate demand of a property nature, but associated with a threat, will no longer be regarded as extortion. It will be qualified under a different article. For example, according to Art. 119 of the Criminal Code, if there is a threat to life or health.

What to do if you receive threats by phone? It doesn’t matter how they reach you: the criminal calls, sends messages via any communication channels, meets you near your home, etc., the algorithm is the same. You need to urgently contact law enforcement agencies. They will help you fill out an application.

Of course, the accusations cannot be unfounded. It would be good if, in addition to your data, there is other evidence confirming the fact of the threats. If you received a call, record the conversation on a voice recorder, get call details from your mobile operator; if threats come in the form of a message, do not delete them under any circumstances.

If you are personally threatened, look around, if there are people around, attract their attention. In addition to the fact that such actions can frighten the attacker, those around you can also help you at a specific moment or be witnesses during a police interview.