The fraud in the criminal code of the Republic of Belarus is the intentional misappropriation of another's property or obtaining the right to such property with a mercenary intention, through false promises or as a result of the criminally used trust of the opponent. The specificity of such a deception is how the fraudster took possession of someone else's property: using the victim’s weakness, misleading him.
Legal characteristic
The object of a fraudster can be any inviolable property:
- cash;
- important documents;
- own things;
- movable and immovable property;
- securities, travel tickets and anything that can play the role of cash equivalent;
- property rights in the form of debt repayment obligations;
- product of intellectual activity.
Criminal liability for fraud is provided if the fact of a fraudulent “illusion” was proved as a means of misleading the victim, that is, the fraudster intentionally reported false information or kept silent about important information, for example, a falsified item was the object of a scam. However, it is impossible to include a personal assessment in false information, which is only subjective in nature, and not reliable data.
Abuse of trust is proven if the victim was deliberately disoriented about the further course of the transaction and the behavior of the suspect when transferring any property or right to it, and is not associated with a distortion of evidence. Confidence can be based on preexisting trust relations between the guilty and the victim due to kinship, official position or friendly relations.
Petty theft
A concept similar to fraudulent actions is considered under Article 10.5 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Belarus (Code of Administrative Offenses). Petty theft refers to the appropriation of things of a legal entity that are valued at 10 basic units or less, and in relation to an individual, the figure should not exceed two basic units on the day the crime was committed.
An exception to the rule is the misappropriation of medals, orders, badges of honor, as well as the commission of an act by a group of persons (for a complete list of notes, see para. 4.24 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). Since January 2018, the base amount is 24.50 rubles. According to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, to determine the appropriate value of the stolen property, it is necessary to proceed from the circumstances of their acquisition by the owner, as well as from market, retail, commission and other prices on the date of the theft. In the case when there is no price, and in other possible cases, experts turn to establish the value.
Criminal article
When the value of the deliberately stolen property exceeds the permissible figure and the crime goes beyond the scope of administrative responsibility, then the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus enters into force. Fraud is a criminal offense. Under this article, people who have reached the age of sixteen on the day of the commission of the crime begin to attract.
The article consists of 4 parts, and accordingly the responsibility and subsequent punishment is divided, depending on the evidence of one or other qualifying features. If the criminal act revealed the signs stipulated by different parts of one article, the misconduct is assessed as more serious. Since art. 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus is connected with causing losses, the type and amount of sanctions depend on the amount of damage caused. The mitigating and aggravating circumstances are taken into account during the trial and subsequent sentencing.
Part One Fraud Articles
The first is considered to be one of the most loyal parts of the criminal article, small amounts appear here:
- 10 to 250 bp in. regarding legal faces.
- 2 to 250 bp in. regarding physical faces.
- There is no specific amount, but we are talking about the theft of honorary orders, badges, medals.
The first part of Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus is listed as a less serious offense and has its own statute of limitations for prosecution of this act - 5 years.
When a court considers a case, the prosecutor may put forward potential sanctions provided for by this article (as amended by the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated January 8, 2015 No. 241-):
- corrective work, the implementation period of which is from 6 months. up to 2 years with the deduction of the part of the income that will go to the state (from 10 to 25%, but not less than 1 b.v. every month);
- public works (60-240 hours);
- arrest for a period of 1 to 3 months;
- monetary fine (30-1000 basic units);
- restriction of freedom for a period of six months, which may be increased, depending on the circumstances, up to 3 years;
- imprisonment for a period of 6 months to 3 years.
Repeated Act
Criminal liability for fraud under Part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code occurs in the secondary commission of theft of property with misleading the victim. The offense is considered to be recidivism if there was a similar misconduct, suitable under Articles 205-212, 323, 333, 294, 327 of the Criminal Code, and at the time of the involvement of a person for a real crime, the criminal record held by the person was not withdrawn in the manner prescribed by law or the citizen was not exempted from criminal liability.
The difference between “ongoing” unlawful possession and “repeated” should be understood. The first term consists of a number of similar criminal acts committed in circumstances that confirm that a person has a common goal and a single intention to steal a certain amount of material values. With such an act, the size of the stolen is reduced by summing up the value of the property for all episodes.
Criminal association
Fraud (Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus) is qualified in 2 parts if the theft has been committed by a group of people, and the damage amounted to 250 basic units or less (the minimum amount is not established). A group crime is recognized as such if at least 2 people jointly committed a crime (participated in a fraud), that is, became its executors, as a result of which they took possession of property without rights. In this case, it should be understood that execution is different from aiding and abetting. If an organized group of people was operating, then such fraudulent actions are already qualified in part four.
The second part of article 209 belongs to the category of a less serious crime, according to it the statute of limitations is similar to the first part and is five years from the date of the commission of a criminal offense.
After the trial, depending on the gravity of the deed, the following term for fraud may be assigned:
- arrest (1-3 months);
- fine (30-1000 b.v.);
- restriction of freedom (6 months – 4 years);
- correctional labor (6 months – 2 years, mandatory deduction from salary from 10 to 25% to state revenue, but not less than 1 b.v. every month);
- imprisonment (6 months-4 years).
Great material damage
Under article 209 part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, people accused of fraud are tried, the amount of damage from which varies from 250 to 1000 b. in. The crime under this article is considered serious, and the statute of limitations, compared with previous less serious criminal acts, has been increased to 10 years from the date of commission.
If the first two parts could be limited to a fine, community service or correctional labor, then in this case the penalty is provided only in the form of imprisonment for a term of 2 to 7 years with the obligatory seizure of registered property or, by court order, without confiscation.
Serious crime
Part 4 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus is appropriate if fraud has been proven, the damage from which has exceeded 1000 basic values. The fourth part, which qualifies as a serious crime in the category, also judges an organized group, regardless of what material losses the act entailed. The statute of limitations for this criminal case is 10 years.
Collective fraud can be recognized as such if two citizens previously agreed to join their efforts to carry out criminal activity, jointly, equally participated in the commission of the crime, i.e., were the perpetrators of the fraud and, abusing the victim's trust, committed theft by fraud.
The punishment for a serious crime with huge material losses under the Law of the Republic of Belarus: deprivation of liberty, taking into account all circumstances - at least 3 years, maximum - 10 years with confiscation of property.
Qualification problem
The idea to commit fraud by deceit or breach of trust can only arise in a capable person who can be accountable for his actions. Therefore, the theft of a large amount by changing data or entering false information in a computer system is qualified according to article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, and the seizure of property of a legally incompetent citizen - according to Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (theft).
Here there is a fine line between ordinary theft and fraud: it is the misrepresentation of a person by virtue of his deception and the use of trust with malicious intent is the main way for a fraudster to take possession of someone else's property. In simple words, one can explain this: the criminal gets a practical opportunity to use the stolen property at his own discretion, because the victim gave such a right because of the existing error, and not by sluggishness or inattention.
Related Articles of the Criminal Code
Not only the term for fraud can be obtained, but also the total punishment, including for other articles, if:
- the offender, unnoticed by the owner, took the property - theft (Article 205 of the Criminal Code);
- the victim revealed the criminal intent during the theft, the guilty fled with the stolen - robbery (Article 206 of the Criminal Code);
- unlawful actions of the offender were discovered, but with the aim of bringing intent to completion, he uses violence that is dangerous to the health and life of the victim - robbery (Article 207 of the Criminal Code).
Separately considered consumer fraud, which is classified according to Art. 257 of the Criminal Code, which should also be distinguished from fraud (article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). In this situation, the official representative of the trade at the expense of calculation, body kit or similar methods assigns the property of an individual, who in this case is considered as a consumer.
Assignment or embezzlement is an option when a citizen has an intention to steal only after the property has been entrusted to him, therefore such an act is classified under article 211 of the Criminal Code.
Criminal prosecution of a fraudster
When it came to the realization that someone had tricked you, the first thing to do was calmly assess the situation. Independently or with the help of a legally savvy person, it is necessary to analyze everything, find and save possible documents and objects that can later be presented as evidence that you have become a victim of a scammer. It makes sense to try to find other victims of a similar situation. Consider the feasibility of returning property as part of a civil process.
The police must write a statement on the fact of fraud, where investigative actions will begin. The appeal can be written by both the victim and anyone who witnessed the commission of malicious intent.
The application form looks like this:
- The heading indicates the name of the body, position, and full name of the official to whom the application is submitted.
- Victim, where he lives, contact number.
- Details of the scam.
- Signature confirming awareness of criminal liability for false denunciation.
- List of written evidence.
- Applicant's signature, filing date.
Recommendations
In order for the fraud case (Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus) to begin verification as soon as possible, it is necessary to indicate the maximum details in the appeal:
- place of residence or work;
- passport data (if the fraudster submitted a copy of the passport pages);
- a detailed description of the person who stands out will accept if there is no other information about him;
- the circumstances of the deception in chronological order;
- the essence of the scam, which proves malice;
- legal assessment of the behavior of the offender (speculation in which you accuse him);
- hypothetical amount of damage.
Important! In the text, it is recommended to omit insults, promises of revenge, obscene expressions. It is recommended to complete the application for the opening of a criminal case or the commencement of proceedings on the fact of fraud (article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). A correctly executed statement is the first step to detecting the attacker and proving his completely unfavorable intentions.
Not uncommon - refusal to institute criminal proceedings. A frequent wording in this case, for example: “The person against whom the inspection was carried out explained that there really was a fact of taking the money from the citizen (the victim), but he did not have the opportunity to return it on time, due to the difficult financial situation, he doesn’t refuse this debt and is ready to return it as far as possible; accordingly, in this case there is no fraud, relations should be clarified at the level of the Civil Code. ” Such an answer may be appealed to the prosecutor's office, but it is necessary to concentrate on the verification materials and the search for new evidence of the opponent’s fraudulent actions.