Services of a lawyer for defense against criminal liability for mediation in bribery

What is meant by mediation in bribery?

Mediation in bribery is understood as an act aimed at reaching an agreement between the bribe giver and the bribe recipient, as well as the transfer of illegal remuneration.

Types of mediation in bribery

The intermediary is involved in both receiving and delivering the bribe. Assistance to the bribe giver and bribe taker can be expressed in various actions.

In judicial practice, there are several types of mediation:

transfer of remuneration in the form of money or property;
a promise to give a bribe to a person indicated by the bribe giver;
advice on who can solve a problem with a bribe;
pimping of a business owner with an official to transfer a bribe;
agreeing on the terms of transfer of illegal remuneration;
search for persons acting as bribe givers and bribe takers.

If the transfer and receipt of illegal remuneration does not take place, then the act of the intermediary is regarded as an attempt on possible mediation.

What offenses are punishable under Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?

Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for several elements of crime. Depending on the severity, mediation for giving and receiving rewards is distinguished:

in a significant amount from 25,000 rubles;
in a large amount from 150,000 rubles;
in a particularly large amount from 1,000,000 rubles;
to commit illegal activities;
committed by a criminal group or by prior agreement.

In practice, it happens that the intermediary receives something of value from the bribe-giver as a bribe, without knowingly intending to transfer it to the bribe-taker. The appropriation of the subject of a bribe in favor of an intermediary constitutes sham mediation. The act is classified as fraud.

If you are accused of intermediary, but you did not know that the thing or money being transferred was a bribe, then you will not face liability. To be released from punishment, use the help of our lawyers. We specialize in defending clients against criminal prosecution for bribery.

It is proposed to soften the punishment for giving and receiving bribes

On January 30, bill No. 376666-7 was introduced into the State Duma, which proposes to mitigate the punishment for crimes of corruption and fraud in the field of computer information (provided for in Articles 159.6, 169, 170.1, 204, 204.1, 204.2, 290, 291, 291.1, 291.2, 292 and 304 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The authors of the amendments consider it possible to exclude from them the imposition of such types of punishment as arrest, restriction and imprisonment, replacing them with forced labor.

As stated in the explanatory note, the adoption of the law will contribute to “reducing the number of people convicted of these crimes who are in prison and under arrest, restoring social justice in the eyes of society, and will also have a positive impact in terms of educational function and crime prevention.”

Other goals of the bill are to reduce budget expenses for the maintenance of prisoners and increase revenues by deducting part of the wages of those sentenced to forced labor into state income. The authors of the amendments explain that over the past 10 years, costs for the penal system have increased by almost 66%, while the number of prisoners has decreased by almost a third: in 2008, the annual maintenance of one prisoner cost 149 thousand rubles, and in 2021 - 363.4 thousand rubles. It is emphasized that if the bill is adopted, the released funds can be used to strengthen social support measures for certain categories of citizens.

As Dmitry Salykin, lawyer of the Leningrad Regional Bar Association, noted, the changes proposed in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation should certainly achieve the stated goals in terms of reducing the number of people convicted of these crimes held in prison (especially for bribery), as well as in terms of the receipt of additional income in budget through deductions from the wages of those sentenced to correctional labor and imposed penalties in the form of large fines.

“But the changes proposed by the bill will certainly have the most significant effect in law enforcement practice and will have an extremely positive impact on the volume and quality of the evidence base in criminal cases of the categories under consideration: investigators and operational officers will be deprived of an effective lever for obtaining the evidence they need - the use of a preventive measure associated with isolation from society,” says the lawyer.

The expert explained that, within the meaning of the law, in accordance with the requirements of Part 1 of Art. 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a preventive measure in the form of detention cannot be applied to suspects and accused of committing a crime for which the punishment does not provide for imprisonment. “Thus, law enforcement officers will be deprived of the opportunity to engage in their usual blackmail and threaten detention in exchange for “necessary” and confessional statements. Persecuted persons will have a real opportunity to fearlessly defend themselves by legal means, and not incriminate themselves and others under the fear of being imprisoned. In this sense, the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code will have an even greater effect than the previously adopted Part 1.1. Art. 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation on the impossibility of applying a preventive measure in the form of detention in relation to suspects and accused of economic crimes committed in the field of entrepreneurship, and in light of the above, successfully harmonize with each other, ensuring the possibility of more effective implementation of the rights to defense,” concluded Dmitry Salykin.

At the same time, the managing partner of the LDD law firm, Zaur Aleskerov, believes that proposals to eliminate the penalty of imprisonment are possible and will lead to a reduction in budget costs for maintaining prisoners, but will entail an increase in the number of crimes related to bribes, commercial bribery, etc. d.

He also noted that the logic of the authors of the amendments is not entirely clear: “What is the difference between fraud in the field of computer information and simple fraud? Both there and here – intent to cause property damage. The situation is similar with the essence of Art. 304 and art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.”

The expert agreed that, indeed, it is possible to exclude imprisonment for minor crimes (Articles 204.2 and 2912 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), but the general trend provided for in the norms of the Criminal Code must be preserved. He also noted that the bill does not take into account the fact that large bribe-takers can easily reimburse any fine.

“One of the main reasons for the extraordinary spread of corruption in Russia today is the low quality of legislation, focused not on legal, but on administrative methods of regulating almost all spheres of public life, and the isolation of legislation from the real conditions of public life. The provisions of the bill are fragmentary, subjective in nature, completely ignoring the systemic analysis of the mechanism of occurrence of corruption and the extent of the illegal act,” stated Zaur Aleskerov.

What punishment is provided under Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?

Various penalties are provided for mediation in bribery. The defendant is subject to the following penalties:

pays a fine of up to RUB 3,000,000;
serves a maximum prison sentence of 7 years.

The fine may be paid in the form of wages for a certain period or in an amount that is a multiple of the amount of illegal remuneration. At the same time, the convicted person is deprived of his position or the right to engage in a specific type of activity.

The accused can relieve himself of criminal liability if he participates in solving the crime, helps to stop the act, or voluntarily reports its commission.

Responsibility for giving a bribe

Responsibility for giving a bribe

Giving a bribe is prohibited by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and liability for this act is prescribed in Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, liability occurs regardless of the method of transferring the bribe - it can be either personal contact with the bribe recipient or the transfer of illegal remuneration through third parties (intermediaries).

✔Responsibility and punishment for giving a bribe.

According to the sanctions of Part 1 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a simple bribe that does not have signs of significance or large size is punishable by a fine of 15 to 30 times the amount of the bribe or a prison term of up to 2 years with a simultaneous fine of no more than 10 times the amount of illegal remuneration. The sanctions for qualified types of this crime are presented in more detail in the table below:

Established in Part 3, the deliberate illegality of the actions for which a bribe is given implies that the bribe-giver understands and is aware of the illegality of the behavior that he demands from an official: a police officer, a doctor, a teacher, a government employee. institutions, etc.

Example 1: Citizen A., when visiting a doctor, asked to expedite his admission as a patient, supporting his request with a 1000-ruble bill. This act will be qualified under Part 1 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - that is, a “simple” bribe.

Example 2: Citizen B., having been stopped by a traffic police inspector for not fastening his seat belt and lack of MTPL insurance, offered the inspector for 1000 rubles “not to notice” these traffic violations and not to draw up a report. This act will be classified under Part 3 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – i.e. giving a bribe for obviously illegal actions of an official.

Example 3: Citizen Z. appealed to the head of the department of the military commissariat with a request to assist him in evading military service and offered to give him a deferment on grounds that did not actually exist. In exchange for assistance, the citizen offered 160,000 rubles. The act will be qualified under Part 4 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, since here there is a large amount of bribe and its giving for a knowingly illegal action of a military registration and enlistment office employee.

✔ How to avoid responsibility?

The footnote to the article under discussion states that the bribe-giver is exempt from liability if he meets one of the following conditions:

— Voluntarily reported giving a bribe to the police.

— Active assistance was provided in solving the crime.

— The official who received the bribe was extorting it and himself offered to commit this act.

Is it possible to avoid responsibility?

If a person voluntarily contacts law enforcement agencies, passing on information about a planned transaction, then he can count on being released from liability or having a reduced sentence. By the way, if you were provoked to give a bribe, then in this case you cannot talk about criminal prosecution. In such situations, if you cooperate with the investigative authorities, the FSB - all responsibility falls on the recipient of the bribe, and you remain a witness. But we always approach “plea deals” with caution, because there are many nuances in such a process, the main one of which is the actual admission of guilt, which is not always appropriate and permissible.

There are actually many options for avoiding liability, including competent testimony from all participants in the case, and the lack of evidence in the form of correspondence, video or audio recordings, printouts of phone wiretapping, etc. It is important to choose the right, most beneficial position for you and stick to it. We do not recommend radically changing the testimony during the course of the case; this is perceived negatively by the court, therefore, it is better to decide on the position on the case at the very beginning, after it has been developed with a lawyer who is a specialist in bribery cases.

As you can see, the penalties for bribes are quite severe. Therefore, before committing any such actions of giving or receiving a bribe, you need to objectively assess the situation and refuse such actions.

Attention! If in any case it is better to contact qualified bribery lawyers who can answer your questions and solve the problem

Fine or restriction of freedom for bribery

The degree of punishment is entirely based on the amount handed over to the official.

The form and amount of punishments are classified as follows:

For a bribe of up to 10,000 rubles, a punishment may be imposed in the form of imprisonment or partial isolation for a period of 1 to two years, or a fine may be issued. The fine can be up to 200,000 rubles; it is determined by the court individually and can amount to three months’ salary of the accused.
For a bribe exceeding the amount of 25,000 rubles, a fine of 200,000 rubles to 1,500,000 rubles or a penalty of full imprisonment for up to six years may be applied. Also, the court may impose an additional penalty in the form of a ban on working as a civil servant for up to three years.
When giving a bribe on a large scale, the punishments are also “large”. A fine can be issued in the amount of two to four million rubles or the accused can be imprisoned for a term of 7 to 12 years. As an additional punishment, a decision may be made to ban work in any position for a period of up to 10 years.
For a bribe of more than 1,000,000 rubles, the fine will be from 3 to 5 million rubles or complete imprisonment for a term of 8 to 15 years. In addition, the court may prohibit the bribe-taker from working anywhere in certain positions for up to fifteen years.

Important information! The above penalties can be imposed if the person has not previously been convicted. If the accused has previously been convicted of a similar crime, the decision on punishment will be more severe.

When giving a bribe is a complete crime

It is generally accepted that giving a bribe is a completed crime from the moment an official accepts at least part of the valuables transferred to him (for example, from the moment they are transferred to the official or credited with the official’s consent to the account specified by him). It does not matter whether the bribe recipient received a real opportunity to use or dispose of the assets transferred to him at his own discretion.

The above actions committed in the context of an operational investigation should also be classified as a completed crime, regardless of whether the valuables were confiscated immediately after their acceptance by the official.

In cases where the subject of a bribe is the illegal provision of services of a property nature, the crime is considered completed from the beginning of the execution, with the consent of the official, of actions directly aimed at acquiring property benefits (for example, from the moment of destruction or return of a promissory note, transfer of property to another person on account fulfillment of the bribe-taker’s obligations, etc.).

If an official refuses to accept a bribe, the person’s actions directly aimed at transferring it are subject to qualification, depending on the size of the bribe, as an attempted crime under Art. 291 or art. 291.1 CC.

The mere promise or offer to an official to transfer illegal remuneration for his actions (inaction) in the service, which due to circumstances beyond the control of the culprit was not realized, must be considered as preparation for giving a bribe (Part 1 of Article 30 and, accordingly, Part 3 –5 Article 291 of the Criminal Code) in the case when the amount of the announced remuneration exceeds 10 thousand rubles. If the amount does not exceed the specified amount, the act, taking into account the provisions of Part 2 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code and sanctions Art. 291.2 of the Criminal Code is not criminally punishable.

Thus, to qualify the giving of a bribe, including a “petty” one, as a completed crime, the key condition is to establish the fact that the official accepted at least part of the subject of the bribe.

But this issue must be resolved individually in each specific case based on the actual circumstances of the case. Acceptance of a bribe by an official can be expressed not only in the direct physical receipt of the subject of the bribe (for example, the official takes the money in his hands, puts it in his pocket or bag, puts it in a desk drawer or in the “glove compartment” in the car), but also in behavior of an official indicating acceptance of a bribe, even in the absence of his direct physical contact with the subject of the bribe. For example, a bribe-giver, in conditions that are obvious to the traffic police inspector, puts money on the seat in the passenger compartment of an official car, after which the inspector, having returned the documents, lets him go, or the bribe-giver puts the money on the table in the office of the official, and he, without taking it in his hands, approvingly speaks out or nods his head, etc.

When establishing the presence or absence of the fact of acceptance of a bribe by an official, the law enforcement officer should evaluate all the circumstances as a whole (the conversation between the bribe giver and the bribe taker, their non-verbal communication (gestures, facial expressions), behavior before the transfer of the bribe, at the time of its transfer and after).

Sincerely, lawyer Zakhar Lebedev, partner of the law firm Antonov and Partners.