Forfeiture for corruption crimes may cover all property (and not just illegally acquired property) of the offender and his immediate heirs (adult children and parents). As the newspaper writes “News”Such amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are being prepared in the State Duma.
The initiative is being developed in response to the President’s instructions to strengthen the fight against corruption and its prevention. In this context, special attention is paid to the introduction of new, more effective methods.
In recent years, the information space has been actively filled with news of high-profile anti-corruption cases involving officials at the federal, regional and municipal levels. Recent major investigations include cases of harassment in the Ministry of Defense and the case of the former head of the Moscow government’s cultural department.
The author of the bill, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Mikhail Delyagin, emphasizes that it is necessary to focus on improving the criminal law institution of confiscation, to ensure its systematic application to criminals. Currently, this measure is used quite rarely.
For example, in 2019, only 3.6% of those convicted of corruption were sentenced to confiscation, and in 2020, 4.1% (291 people). In 2021, courts imposed confiscation on charges of bribery (Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in only one out of ten cases, that is, in 96 out of 891 convicts.
The explanatory note also notes that there are gaps in current legislation and practice that prevent the effective use of confiscation as a mechanism to combat fraud. Today, courts generally only order confiscation of property and valuables that constitute material evidence in the investigation process.
Vladimir Kuznetsov, head of the All-Russian Union of Mediators, said that such tightening really works “at least in terms of general prevention, that is, intimidating people who want to commit a crime with severe sanctions for a punishable act.”
Earlier, Yakutsk authorities was threatened colony to residents who complained about corruption.