Theft of a car license plate, liability for theft of state signs, actions in case of theft

If you leave your car in the yard, you can become a target for intruders: vindictive neighbors, hooligans, extortionists. A nuisance that is common these days is the removal of license plates. This can happen to every car enthusiast. What to do if a state sign was stolen and you left a mobile phone number to call? Calling a scammer is not the best solution. In such a situation, it is necessary to clearly understand the meaning of what happened: who did it and why, and what the villain wants from you. To save time and nerves, it is necessary to analyze the circumstances of a particular theft.

Art. 325.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for the theft of license plates was put into effect in August 2014. Criminals who break the law alone face up to 1 year in prison, and as part of a group – up to 4 years. Since the criminal law was supplemented with a new article, drivers who cannot quickly restore their license plates have become more protected. The law also protected foreigners, drivers of transit trucks and road travelers.

Actions in case of theft of license plates from a car

Immediately stop using the car, drive without registration. numbers are prohibited in Russia.

Try to determine what exactly happened: the loss of the sign or its theft. Inspect the places where signs are installed on the car, the parking lot and the road to it. Perhaps the number was poorly secured, you lost it by jumping on a bump or hole, catching on a branch or other inconspicuous obstacle. It is possible that you will find a sign near the car, in a puddle, in the mud or in the bushes, and you are quite capable of discovering the loss on your own or with friends and putting it back in its rightful place.

If the plate is not found, you should file a report with your local police department regarding the theft of your vehicle's license plates. In the future, this will protect you from being held accountable for possible crimes using your plate. The inspector will initiate a case regarding the theft of state vehicle registration marks. This is a formality, since there is no active search for these cases, but the main thing for you is to obtain an official document from law enforcement agencies about the theft.

Contacting the traffic police department

After about ten days, necessary to verify the circumstances of the case, you will be given a certificate of theft of a car license plate, allowing you to order a duplicate from a specialized organization or register with the traffic police to re-register the car and receive other signs. The latter option is more labor-intensive and time-consuming, but it can save you from unnecessary explanations with law enforcement agencies in the future.

Once you receive your new government decals, contact your insurance company to make changes to the database.

What is the penalty for stealing numbers?

If you experience the theft of your number and receive an offer to return it for a reward, you need to submit an oral or written report of the crime to the police. Finding the real criminal is extremely difficult, since in order to receive a reward, the numbers of electronic wallets or telephone numbers registered to dummies are indicated. However, law enforcement agencies have technical controls and equipment at their disposal to identify the criminal.

The theft or loss of license plates must be reported to the police even if there is no requirement for a reward. The fact is that other persons can use stolen license plates to install them on another car and commit illegal actions. When investigating other crimes, the first suspicions will always be brought against the citizen to whom the license plates are registered. If the theft was not reported to the police, you will have to prove your innocence.

If during the investigation the identity of the criminal is established, the fact of theft and a mercenary motive are proven, a guilty verdict will be issued. The court may apply the following sanctions to the convicted person:

• a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles, or in the amount of the culprit’s salary for up to 1 year;
• compulsory or correctional labor;
• imprisonment for up to 1 year.

The relative leniency of punishment is associated with the low social danger of the crime. However, if the theft of a number is committed as a result of the action of an organized group, the sanctions will be stricter - those responsible face a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles, a prison term of up to 4 years, and other sanctions.

Is it possible to drive without license plates?

You cannot be fined for losing your license plate; this is not provided for by law.

According to clause 1, part 3, art. 8 283-FZ dated 08/03/2018, the operation of cars without registration marks in Russia is prohibited. An exception is the ten-day period after purchasing a new car, importing or acquiring rights to a vehicle that was not previously registered in the Russian Federation.

Punishment for such an offense ranges from a fine of five thousand to deprivation of rights for a period of one to three months. The sanction for the lack of one number is similar to that provided for the loss of two.

Nuances

Registering new numbers after theft is not difficult, you just need to allocate a little time and patience for this procedure. You should not follow the lead of scammers and pay them a ransom, encouraging this hooligan activity. In practice, even after transferring the required money to the thieves, the car owner does not always get his license plates back. Therefore, the surest way out of the situation is to report the theft to the police and re-register the vehicle, thus protecting yourself from new problems. It doesn’t matter that the criminals in this case remain unpunished - if all car owners take such measures, there will be no point for criminals to steal.

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Restoring a number after theft

They restore the old sign, or rather, get a duplicate of it, in the event of the theft of only one license plate from the car. In an authorized company (a list of such organizations can be found at the nearest registration office or on the traffic police portal) this will cost 1,500-2,000 rubles and will take about half an hour.

If both license plates are stolen from you, you need to re-register the car and obtain new plates from the traffic police. You will have to pay a state fee of 2,850 rubles. There is no need to undergo a technical inspection.

Why are license plates stolen from cars?

It is impossible to say for sure why license plates are stolen from cars. The purpose of stealing a car license plate may be extortion. In this case, the thief addresses a note to the owner. In it, he indicates a telephone number for communication, sometimes a method of transferring money and the amount of payment. Typically, the ransom amount is slightly less than the cost of restoring the number and ranges from 1,500 to 5,000 rubles. The calculation is that the owner of the car will not want to deal with the labor-intensive procedure of restoring lost state license plates, but will prefer to pay the scammer and immediately get back the treasured license plate.

Request for ransom for a stolen license plate

It is not uncommon for criminals to steal signs in order to subsequently commit another crime in a car with false license plates. If you did not report the theft to the authorities in a timely manner, in the future you will have to explain to investigators what the car with your registration marks did at the scene of a more serious crime.

Fraudsters can steal license plates to implement schemes to evade fines imposed automatically by traffic police and MADI cameras, non-payment of parking, gasoline at gas stations, or travel on highways with a barrier-free toll system.

In this case, all these fines and bills will come to your name. And you will have to prove every time that you had nothing to do with these incidents, and this is a rather long and labor-intensive process.

Sometimes the theft of license plates from a car is committed out of hooliganism or to annoy the car owner who doesn’t like it.

What to do if license plates are stolen from a car in another country?

In another country, you need to be especially careful when leaving your car on the street, even for a short time. Foreign numbers are the most desirable prey for scammers. They take advantage of the vulnerability of visitors and demand large sums of money for the return of rooms. Restoring registration plates abroad is more problematic than in your home country. This is what the attackers are counting on, inflating the ransom amount.

But this does not mean that you need to give money and indulge the thieves’ demands. So you can be left without finances and without numbers. The first actions in this situation are standard - go to the police and write a report of theft. There, the car owner will receive a certificate with which to go to the embassy or consulate. Further, this issue will be resolved by employees of the diplomatic organization.

IMPORTANT

Before traveling to another country by car, you should be especially careful about the security of your license plates. You can use custom screws that require a special screwdriver, or install other security features. You should not leave your car for a long time - in Ukraine and Belarus this type of fraud is as widespread as in Russia.

If they demand a ransom for the numbers

Try looking for signs near the car. According to the law, the punishment for stealing license plates from a car is quite serious. Knowing this, thieves, in order not to get caught red-handed, usually do not take the removed signs with them, but hide them in a secluded place nearby, for example, behind trees, bushes, in the sand, in a pile of earth, under the stairs. If the owner transfers money to the criminals, they tell him this place.

If the numbers are not found, it is easier to restore them officially, through the police and traffic police. You should not feed criminals by paying a ransom: in their eyes this will look like weakness and will serve as a reason to repeat illegal actions against you in the future. In addition, if you do not immediately report the incident, the signs may be used with criminal intent, which promises additional problems.

How to secure your car in the future

If possible, try to leave your car under supervision in paid or closed familiar crowded parking lots with sufficient lighting and video surveillance. This is the easiest and most reliable way to protect your car from attacks by thieves.

Video surveillance in the parking lot

A sensitive car alarm will help stop attempts to steal license plates from your car. An anti-vandal device, a special number frame, and secret fastening of signs can also prevent theft. But if the attackers have serious intentions and enough time, any of these devices will be neutralized or simply broken.

Responsibility for theft of license plates from a car

For the theft of a car license plate in the Russian Federation, not only Article 19.37 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is provided, but also criminal punishment under Article 325.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

If the act does not reveal signs of a criminal offense, administrative arrest is applied for up to 15 days.

If the thief’s actions are seen as motivated by self-interest (such as extortion of a ransom) or preparation for committing a serious crime, criminal liability is applied under Article 325.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. A penalty is imposed in the form of a fine of up to a maximum of 200,000 rubles or in the amount of the full income of the convicted person for a period of up to twelve months, forced labor for up to 360 hours (up to 45 work days), corrective labor for up to twelve months, or imprisonment for this period. term.

Responsibility for theft of license plates

If the theft was carried out by conspiracy of several persons or a group, the punishment is toughened. Thieves will be punished with a fine of up to 300,000 rubles. or the amount of the criminal’s income for up to 24 months, compulsory work for up to 480 hours (up to 60 work days), correctional work for up to 24 months, or even a prison term of up to four years.

As we can see, the law takes this crime very seriously. Criminals can receive a real sentence of up to four years.

What is a crime

Until 2014, there was no provision on punishment for theft of car license plates. It was possible to bring to justice only those caught extorting money from car owners, but in practice such acts remained unpunished. To protect vehicle owners from illegal actions of other persons, a new article 325.1 has appeared in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Criminal sanctions will be imposed according to the following rules:

1. the unlawful taking of a vehicle license plate is recognized as a crime (the seizure of counterfeit or previously stolen license plates by an authorized person of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not a violation);
2. criminal punishment will follow only if the theft was committed with mercenary motives or to commit grave or especially grave crimes;
3. Only individuals whose actions have been proven to have intent and selfish interest are held accountable under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
4. The seizure of numbers committed by an organized group is included in a separate section.

A state number is issued to the owner of a car or other vehicle after registration and registration with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. The obligation to equip a car with license plates is enshrined in the law, and violation of this rule entails administrative liability. Until the criminal makes a demand for payment of a reward, it is difficult to say that the theft occurred and not the loss of the number during use. However, in practice, it is impossible to lose both numbers at once, so this fact can be regarded as theft.

The fact of license plate theft is detected by the car owner. It should be taken into account that if a plate with a number is lost or damaged, it can be restored in 1 day, although the cost of replacement will be up to 2,500 rubles. Previously, this procedure took much longer, which was used by criminals who offered to return the stolen number for a reward.

It is the selfish motive that is the main qualifying feature under Art. 325.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If a citizen has stolen the number, but does not plan to return it for a fee, sell it to third parties or use it to commit other crimes, his actions can only be interpreted as causing property damage by theft. Since the amount of damage is clearly insignificant, the punishment will be imposed according to the norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The amount of remuneration required for returning the number does not affect the procedure for bringing to justice under Art. 325.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Even if you agreed to pay the money and transferred it using the criminal’s details, you can file a claim that your number was stolen. In this case, you can count on compensation for damage caused by illegal actions.