1. Theft, destruction, damage or concealment of official documents, stamps or seals, committed out of mercenary or other personal interest, -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to eighteen months, 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 one year. , or arrest for a term of up to four months, or imprisonment for a term of up to one year.
2. Theft of a citizen’s passport or other important personal document -
shall be punishable by 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 by compulsory labor for a term of up to three hundred sixty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to one year, or by arrest for a term of up to three months.
3. Theft of excise stamps, special stamps or marks of conformity protected from counterfeiting -
shall be punishable by a fine of up to two hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to eighteen months, or by forced labor for a term of up to two years, or by imprisonment for the same term.
- Article 324. Acquisition or sale of official documents and state awards
- Article 325.1. Wrongful seizure of the state registration plate of a vehicle
How my passport was stolen
I was at a friend’s wedding in Moscow and parked my car at the registry office on Kantemirovskaya Street. After registering, I discovered that the trunk was slightly open - and there was my purse with money and documents. I checked my wallet: the cards and money remained untouched. I didn’t think to check if my passport was there. But in vain. It was on Saturday.
On Monday I got a call from the bank - which bank I don’t remember now. They wanted to make sure that I was really ready to take out a loan. The application indicated a phone number given by the scammers, but the bank’s database listed another number—my current one. I replied that I did not leave this request. That’s when I realized that my passport was in the hands of criminals.
Instructions: what to do if your passport is lost
The idea of “searching on your own” is only suitable for a situation where a person knows where exactly he lost his passport. For example, I took it out in a store when buying alcohol, went outside, got into the car, opened my bag, and didn’t find my passport there. Obviously, you can return along the same path to the store and search, ask the security, the seller. But if it is more difficult to specify the time and place of loss and personal searches have not yielded anything, then here is a checklist on how to proceed:
Contact the police
You can apply to any nearest branch - not necessarily at your place of residence. Here you will need to confirm that your passport was not stolen, but it is lost, write an application and receive a coupon in return - it confirms that the application has been accepted.
The police officer will also draw up a report on the administrative violation. Loss of a passport falls under Article 19.16 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (intentional damage to an identity document or loss due to negligence). Therefore, you will have to pay a fine for an administrative offense - in the amount of 100–300 rubles. You can pay the fine in the bank closest to the police station or in your mobile bank.
There is little chance that law enforcement will find the passport. But contacting the police is necessary so that the lost document is declared invalid (the data in the OUFMS database is updated) and anyone who accidentally finds it cannot use it. You can check whether the data is updated on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website using a special service.
Prepare documents to request a new passport
After the visit to law enforcement agencies, you must submit an application for a new passport. It is filled out by hand or on a computer and then printed. The form can be downloaded on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website.
When filling out by hand, you must write in block letters, black or blue ink. Corrections are not allowed. The application must include the details of the lost passport.
The following documents will need to be attached to the application:
- Photos 3*4 - two pieces, black and white or color, taken in the same year (must correspond to the applicant’s age at the time of application). Photo requirements are standard: hats, uniforms, and outerwear are prohibited. The face should not be covered by scarves or loose hair.
- A coupon notification of registration of a message about the loss of a passport - a copy will be taken from it, the original will be returned.
- A receipt for payment of the state fee for issuing a new passport (more on this below).
Additional set of documents (if available): • Certificate of marriage, divorce, birth of children under 14 years of age. • A copy of the military registration document: military ID or certificate issued by the commissariat.
Representatives of other nationalities, as well as Russians who permanently reside outside the Russian Federation, may be asked for documents confirming Russian citizenship. For example, a birth certificate.
If you have any documents in a foreign language, you must make a notarized translation into Russian.
Pay the state fee
According to Article 333.33 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the state fee for passport restoration is 1,500 rubles. You can pay it at any bank branch or in online banking using the details specified in the receipt. This cannot be done through the Gosuslugi portal, so no discounts are provided (for other payments they give -30% for payment by card) are not provided.
To pay the state fee, you need to issue a receipt: the form is available on the website of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (here you can immediately automatically enter the OKTMO code, full name, INN and address of the payer) and on the State Services portal (you will have to fill it out manually).
If your passport is lost due to an emergency, such as a flood, you do not need to pay the state fee.
Contact the Migration Office
The prepared set of documents, along with a receipt for payment of the state fee and a signed application for the loss of a passport, must be taken to the migration department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the place of residence or temporary stay.
Previously, this could be done at the MFC or the Federal Migration Service, but after 2016 this issue is dealt with exclusively by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It will be possible to replace a passport at the MFC only in Moscow, where Ministry of Internal Affairs officers are stationed in the departments.
Wait for the new passport to be issued
After submitting an application to replace your passport and package of documents, you may be given a choice of a certificate of acceptance of the application in any form or a temporary identity card of the Russian Federation. The second option is important for those who need a passport replacement while waiting: for example, if a person has lost the document before traveling. To obtain a temporary ID, you will need to take an additional photo at the branch.
If documents are submitted at the place of residence, they must be reviewed within 10 calendar days. If you applied in another city, the period increases to 30 days. Holidays and weekends do not affect the waiting period, even if the application was submitted on December 30.
Only the citizen for whom it is intended can receive a completed passport. Relatives cannot do this, even if they have a power of attorney. If a person cannot visit the Ministry of Internal Affairs department for health reasons, an employee of the department will deliver the document to his home. To do this, relatives need to write a corresponding application to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and attach a certificate.
Notify the bank of new passport details
If you have a bank account, then you need to contact the bank and inform about the change of passport - this requirement is stated in the contract. If this is not done, the bank has the right to block the account at any time, because the document specified in the agreement is on the list of invalid ones.
If you have a loan, the creditor bank also needs to be notified of the change in passport data - the new information will be included in the previous agreement or additional agreement.
Check your credit history
Experts advise checking your credit history at least once a year, but if you have lost your passport, you should do this more often (if your passport fell into the hands of fraudsters, they could try to apply for a loan in your name).
Read on topic:
Real case: scammers issued 13 loans to me from microfinance organizations
You can get your credit history for free twice a year. To do this, you need to find out in which bureaus it is stored (this can be done at the State Services) and contact them.
You can also request a credit history from NBKI and OKB (these are one of the largest credit bureaus in Russia) on the “Credit Rating” page in your personal account on Sravni.ru.
In addition, users have the opportunity to subscribe to changes in their credit rating (it costs 49 ₽ per month). Then every month you will receive notifications by email about the status of your scoring score. This will allow you to react quickly if someone takes out a loan on you. How to act in such a situation can be read in our article.
Find out your credit rating
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How I proceeded
Filed a police report
At that time, I lived in the city of Pushkino, Moscow region, and filed a statement about the loss of my passport with the local police department. She explained and described in detail what happened. My application was accepted, but it turned out that it would be sent by mail to Tsaritsyno, where the theft took place. And this is about a week of waiting in limbo. Then I decided to go to the Tsaritsyn branch myself and write a statement there again. At the same time, I did not report fraud, because the injured party in this case was the banks, not me, as the investigators explained.
I was not briefed on the details of the investigation. As I understand it, the investigators requested information from the bank where the attackers managed to obtain a loan for me. It turned out that the scammer had pasted her photo into my passport, and on top - a protective film with a hologram. As a result, the photographs in the document and in the investigators’ database were different.
A month after filing the application, the investigator opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 325 of the Criminal Code “Theft of a citizen’s passport or other important personal document” in relation to an unidentified person. They gave me a copy of the decision to initiate a case, confirming the theft of my passport by fraudsters. Based on it, banks withdrew loans from me. The investigators did not order a graphological examination - apparently, there was enough discrepancy between the photographs.
Anna Kukleva
Chief Legal Advisor of Pravocard
Why do you need a graphological examination if you lose your passport?
“The investigator-inquirer has the right to conduct a handwriting examination to identify discrepancies between the signatures: the original and those forged in the loan agreement by fraudsters. This is the basis for exemption from payment of imaginary loan obligations.”
Punishment for passport theft - administrative or criminal
It can be said without reservation that passport theft is a criminal offense and falls under Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The following types of punishment are provided for this act:
- fine up to 80 thousand rubles;
- compulsory work up to 360 hours;
- correctional labor for up to 1 year;
- arrest up to 3 months.
If you have any questions, please contact our lawyers using the feedback form or just call us. In the shortest possible time you will receive advice from competent specialists.
Wrote applications to banks
The next step was to search for loans issued to me. By the time the case was initiated, I already knew about two. The scammers took one loan from Home Credit Bank in the Svyaznoy store: I received an SMS about changing my phone number. The second one was issued by OTP Bank - it seems that a notification also came. Most likely, the criminals also took out a second loan at a mobile phone store or electronics store. All these were consumer loans for Apple iPhone in the amount of about 70,000 rubles each.
I wrote applications for loan cancellation at the nearest branches of these banks. These were free-form statements on the bank’s application form, where I had to describe the essence of the claim. Attached to the applications was a copy of the resolution from the Investigative Committee confirming the theft of the passport.
Banks considered applications for about a month. Then they wrote by email that a decision had been made on my appeal. And to find out which one you need to appear in person. Each bank issued a document confirming that there are no claims against me and the loans are not mine.
For example, Home Credit Bank issued the following certificate:
"Dear Olga!
In response to your request that you did not enter into agreement No. ХХХХХХ dated XX.XX.XX for a loan in the amount of 70,000 rubles, the bank reports the following:
Based on the results of an internal investigation conducted by the bank, it was established that you did not conclude agreement No. XXXXXX dated XX.XX.XX. The bank has no claims against you under this agreement.
Information on the agreement was also corrected in the Equifax credit history bureau.”
As far as I understand, bank security services were conducting their investigation. The Svyaznoy store also has an internal checks department: there they asked me to send a photo of a driver’s license, international passport, and just a recent portrait photo. Plus, I was invited to the store’s security department, where they showed me a scan of my passport with a photo of the fraudster. The employees of the communication store apparently did not notice the fake when filling out the loan request.
There was a rather ridiculous situation when banks demanded to send a scan of my passport. I no longer had my old passport, and I didn’t have a new one yet. Luckily, I found an old photo on my phone, but overall the request seemed strange.
Judicial practice: sentences and punishment under Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
- Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated... PLENAUM OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION DECISION dated December 17, 2021 N 43 ON SOME ISSUES OF JUDICIAL PRACTICE IN CASES...
- Ruling of the ECtHR dated 02/14/2017 EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS THIRD SECTION CASE “MASLOVA VS. RUSSIAN FEDERATION” (Complaint No. 15980/12) JUDGMENT…
- Decision of the Supreme Court: Determination N 45-АПУ17-6П... THE SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Case No. 45-АПУ17-6з APPEAL DETERMINATION Gor. Moscow May 11, 2021 Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases...
Checked credit history
At first, I simply called well-known banks and found out if I had a loan. This method did not bring results. Then I remembered that you can check your loans through the credit history bureau (BKI). I once worked in a bank, and this is how we screened potential borrowers. I knew the National Credit Bureau (NCB) and Equifax. I randomly contacted NBKI, and they downloaded my credit history for free.
From my credit history, I found out how many loans were issued to me and where: in addition to two loans, I had two microloans for 30,000 rubles each.
I also learned that the scammers submitted loan applications to seven more banks, including Alfa-Bank and Tinkoff Bank, but they were rejected everywhere. All this can also be traced in the report - it indicates which banks made requests to the bureau to find out the credit history of the potential borrower and make a decision on issuing a loan.
Anna Kukleva
Chief Legal Advisor of Pravocard
A credit history (CI) is stored in one or several bureaus.
A list of operating bureaus is available on the Central Bank website. You can find out exactly where your history is stored through the State. You can request a CI on the bureau’s website, at a bank or microfinance organization. This can be done for free twice a year.
Monitor your credit rating in your personal account Sravni.ru
We will also give tips on how to improve CI
Find out the rating for free
if the document cost more than 2000 rubles
If the stolen document cost more than 2,000 rubles, much more serious liability arises - criminal liability.
Criminal liability for document theft
For the theft of a document worth more than 2,000 rubles, the following liability is provided:
- a fine 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;
- compulsory work for a period of up to three hundred and sixty hours;
- or correctional labor for up to one year;
- or restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years;
- or forced labor for up to two years;
- or arrest for up to four months;
- or imprisonment for a term of up to two years.
Legislative regulation
1. Theft, that is, the secret theft of someone else’s property, -
shall be punishable by 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 by compulsory labor for a term of up to three hundred 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. (as amended by Federal Law dated December 7, 2011 N 420-FZ)
2. Theft committed:
a) by a group of persons by prior conspiracy; b) with illegal entry into the premises or other storage; c) causing significant damage to a citizen; d) from clothes, bags or other hand luggage that were with the victim -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to eighteen months, 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. (as amended by Federal Law dated December 7, 2011 N 420-FZ)
3. Theft committed:
a) with illegal entry into a home; b) from an oil pipeline, oil product pipeline, gas pipeline; c) on a large scale, -
You can almost always return an item!
The main thing is to know the procedure and use the law correctly. Get information for free from lawyers via chat (bottom right ↘️)
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 one and a half 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. (as amended by Federal Laws dated December 27, 2009 N 377-FZ, dated March 7, 2011 N 26-FZ, dated December 7, 2011 N 420-FZ) (part three as amended by Federal Law dated December 30, 2006 N 283-FZ)
4. Theft committed:
a) an organized group; b) on an especially large scale, -
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 five years and with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years. (as amended by Federal Laws dated December 27, 2009 N 377-FZ, dated March 7, 2011 N 26-FZ)
notes. 1. Theft in the Articles of this Code means the illegal gratuitous seizure and (or) conversion of someone else’s property for the benefit of the perpetrator or other persons, committed for mercenary purposes, causing damage to the owner or other holder of this property.
2. Significant damage to a citizen in the Articles of this chapter, with the exception of part five of Article 159, is determined taking into account his property status, but cannot be less than five thousand rubles. (Clause 2 as amended by Federal Law dated 07/03/2016 N 323-FZ)
3. In the Articles of this chapter, premises are understood as buildings and structures, regardless of the form of ownership, intended for the temporary residence of people or the placement of material assets for production or other official purposes.
In the Articles of this chapter, storage means utility premises separated from residential buildings, areas of territory, pipelines, and other structures, regardless of the form of ownership, that are intended for permanent or temporary storage of material assets. (as amended by Federal Law dated December 30, 2006 N 283-FZ)
4. Large size in the Articles of this chapter, with the exception of parts six and seven of Article 159, Articles 159.1, 159.3, 159.5 and 159.6, is recognized as the value of property exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand rubles, and especially large - one million rubles.
Wrote an application to review your credit history
You can write an application to review your credit history directly to the bureau. I attached a copy of the decision to initiate a criminal case to the application. A week later I received something like this:
“Based on your application, appropriate changes were made to the title part of your credit history, namely, a note was made about the invalidity of the old passport.”
The bureau also checked the microloans taken out for me and removed from the history everything that the scammers had issued to me.
Anna Kukleva
Chief Legal Advisor of Pravocard
“Information in a credit history can be challenged in whole or in part, as follows from Part 3 of Article 8 of the federal law. To do this, you need to submit an application to the credit history bureau, where loan data is stored. Attach supporting documents to it, for example, a determination from an investigative agency or a court decision that the loan was taken by another person and fraudulent actions were committed against the borrower. The BKI will check the information within 30 days and give a response.”
Algorithm for restoring a passport in case of loss or theft
To obtain a new passport to replace a lost (stolen) one, you must follow the following system.
1. Contacting the police with a statement about the theft of your passport (if it was stolen).
When you submit your application, you will be issued a ticket. It consists of a coupon-stub and a coupon-notification. The second one will remain with you.
2. Preparation of documents needed to obtain a new passport.
To ensure that the data in the new passport is correct, collect all the documents that are needed to make the appropriate marks.
How did the story with loans end?
Four years have passed since the theft. Collectors and bailiffs never called me, because I started acting almost immediately as soon as the loans were issued. At that time there were no late payments.
I don’t know if I have disputed all the loans, maybe there are still some left. But I no longer take active steps to search for them and have generally calmed down: I have all the necessary documents to challenge them, and I also have experience in annulment. After what happened, I already took out a loan for 500,000 rubles, the bank approved it. No enforcement proceedings have been brought against me.
Where to go if you lose your passport?
What to do if you lost your passport?
The order of your actions depends on whether your passport was stolen, you lost it, or simply damaged it. In the first two cases, you must first contact the police to file a theft report. This is important because a stolen or found document can be used by criminals.
If your passport has simply become unusable, you can immediately contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs office at your place of residence. Next, we will tell you in detail what kind of preparatory work to do before this and why it is advisable to take the documents to the exact branch to which your registration address belongs.
In what cases can you avoid liability for document theft?
There are comments to the article. Thus, according to Article 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with commentaries, the public danger of theft is a violation of the order of official document flow in the company, as well as the rights of citizens mentioned in these documents. Any document conferring rights and obligations, or releasing them, issued by an authorized person or organization is considered official. Therefore, judicial practice does not consider papers, for example, test purchase acts, which were not drawn up by an official, as official.
Also read: Theft, theft on an especially large scale: article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, judicial practice
IMPORTANT: The document thief will not be found guilty if:
- the documents were not used for personal gain, but were returned to their rightful owner voluntarily;
- the criminal himself came to the police station, admitted to committing the crime and handed over the stolen documents intact, without any damage;
- the kidnapper himself contacted the victim, voluntarily gave the documents to the owner and reached a peace agreement with him.
Article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on theft of documents
Concealment, destruction, theft, theft of documents is an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - Article 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This action is considered illegal, which means it entails responsibility and punishment. It does not matter under what circumstances the crime was committed, punishment occurs even if the criminal hid the papers for some personal purpose.
The first part of the article provides data on the theft of seals, stamps and other official documents.
Official documents are papers that confirm any facts and/or events that have legal significance. In addition, such papers may provide rights or impose obligations. Official documents have a prescribed form and details. The latter may be on stamps and seals, so their theft also carries criminal liability.
For example, if a seal with its details was stolen from a large organization, the thief may face punishment up to one year in prison. It all depends on the circumstances in which the crime was committed and the goals of the criminal. Indeed, in one case, a person could inadvertently confuse the seals and take someone else’s with him, and in another, he could purposefully steal it in order to make transactions on behalf of the organization.
The second part of the article talks about the theft of a citizen’s passport or other personal documents.
Also read: Article 226 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - theft of weapons and ammunition, explosives
Responsibility arises for the theft of a passport, not only a civil one, but also a diplomatic, service or sailor’s passport, as well as papers that perform the function of a passport. In addition, liability also arises for the theft of a driver’s license, work book, pension certificate, etc.
Did you know that if your passport is stolen, you may face a fine? It seems that this is some kind of absurdity, but it is really so. At the end of the article, circumstances due to which such a situation may occur are given.
The third part examines the theft by any means of excise and special stamps, marks of conformity and seals.
In case of their theft, criminal liability arises, which may entail punishment in the form of a fine of up to two hundred thousand rubles.
If the criminal himself admits to the theft and returns the stamps to their owner, then punishment can be avoided. Read more about this further.
