Entrepreneurship is an area of activity that opens up a ton of opportunities for both businessmen and attackers. To date, the number of frauds and frauds regarding economic atrocities is an order of magnitude higher than the crime rate in many other areas of illegal actions. And it should be noted that their number is growing daily. What is the reason for this? What types of crimes in the field of entrepreneurship are the most common today? And what penalties are provided for such offenses?
The concept
Economic crimes in the field of entrepreneurial activity are understood as the actions of persons who have their own benefit and financial interest, aimed at carrying out unlawful measures and actions that systematically provide them with a profit in connection with the sale of goods, the provision of services, the performance of work or the use of property. It is noteworthy that the attackers themselves are entrepreneurs and are considered officially registered business entities, in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.
Obstruction and counteraction to crimes related to illegal business manipulations, non-payment of tax contributions on the part of small and large businesses, encroachment on the protection of the legitimate economic rights and interests of citizens, which are an integral part and value of every democratic state - all this should be considered by authorities and self-government on level of priorities and goals. Unfortunately, at the moment, the system for resolving various claims on other people's property in the sphere of commercial and economic relations in the Russian Federation is not perfect. There are significant gaps in the possibilities of tracking and suppressing the actions of fraudsters, clever methods of conducting scams, which every day are distinguished by increasing skill and insidious ingenuity.
The significance of the problem
Why is this problem so urgent at present? Because economic crimes in the field of entrepreneurial activity are harmful both to the state, based on circumvention of the law and non-reflection in the real amount of the taxable amount by business entities, and other entrepreneurs working legally, misleading them and simply deceiving them by concluding agreements “with reservations ". Many believe that the imperfection of tax legislation is to blame for this, justifying their position by the fact that excessively high tax rates do not allow small businesses to grow. Due to the fact that it is not easy for small enterprises to obtain a loan from a bank to promote their company, in these conditions of survival they can only go for such crimes in the field of entrepreneurship.
Signs of economic crime
According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, any person who registers himself in the relevant authorities as a legal entity, further suggests an appeal to activities of a commercial or non-commercial nature. As for the first - its main goal is to profit from the sale of goods, the provision of services, etc. Speaking of the second, it cannot be argued that its main task is to earn profit from its activities. Non-profit organizations include public associations, consumer cooperatives, and religious communities. But no matter what type of business this or that offense relates to, it has a number of certain aspects specific to crimes related to business activities. What are these signs?
- Systematic. Regular encroachments and a stable tendency to violations in part of one niche of the economic system give rise to crimes in another sector of activity. And alas, this situation is unchanged.
- Corruption subtext. Initially, the entire system of offenses in the economic sphere of activity is based on the ability to influence the law itself and the basic rules of doing business by bribing and giving a bribe to certain authorities on certain conditions.
- Selfish motivation. Any economic crime is carried out with the aim of obtaining financial benefits from cranked scams or evading state penalties.
- Latency. All crimes committed in the field of entrepreneurial activity by a general characteristic are like hidden, sophisticated manipulations of malefactors in the person of entrepreneurs who register themselves in accordance with legislative norms, posing as respectable citizens, and in every possible way try to evade carrying out their activities on legal grounds.
- Relevance. The number of offenses committed in terms of economic relations not only does not decrease, but also increases markedly. The growth trend of financial frauds in the field of management steadily continues to plow the vastness of modern entrepreneurship.
Relevance
Not all potential attackers have become such because of their cunning and criminal thinking. At the time of becoming an entrepreneur a legal entity at the very beginning of his financial and economic activities, he is faced with problems of excessively high taxation. This is what provokes the majority of economic operators to bypass the law, because of the two possible options - termination of activity or getting into debt - I do not want to choose either one or the other. So it turns out that, as if, in addition to their will, forced entrepreneurs go to a deliberate violation of the law. Among other things, along the way, they identify loopholes for the possible gain of profit without the application of any serious effort.
The current schemes of violations in the field of economic relations have become even more extraordinary, complex, and violations of tax law - even less obvious. In view of this, the suppression of crimes related to illegal business activities is becoming less operational: the fight against them is organized at an insufficient level. In addition, the limited opportunities and unsatisfactory degree of qualification of law enforcement officers, who at this stage are not able to properly understand both the economy and the law at the same time, contribute to the fact that the disclosure of financial offenses regarding economic relations is not fully implemented. The younger generation of investigators is not adequately equipped with methodological material capable of clearly and clearly giving an idea of the tactics and techniques of investigative measures in this vein. In his activity, he can only be guided by the Criminal Code regarding the fight against intentional atrocities in the business and commerce industries, namely, articles on crimes in the field of entrepreneurial activity of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation 169-175.
Types of Economic Offenses
The described offenses have a wide spectrum of branching into various categories of crimes with different focuses, motivation, and ways of manifestation. What types of crimes related to entrepreneurial activity are known to the world today and the punishment of which is provided for by criminal law?
- Acts that prevent the implementation of legal business - such offenses are regulated by Article 169 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for the unlawful refusal to register an IP, in issuing a license to carry out economic activities of a commercial organization, as well as the illegality of restricting the independence, interests and rights of an IP, depending on the form property. Often, all these cases are caused by the influence of an official who uses his official position for unlawful purposes. An aggravating circumstance here is the commission of a violation by an official, which entails the infliction of major damage to the individual entrepreneur.
- Acts involving the illegal registration of land transactions - offenses are regulated by Article 170 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which suppresses this kind of action by criminal liability for the registration of a deliberately illegal transaction with land plots. In addition, the distortion of accounting information on objects of the state land cadastre and the deliberate underestimation of the amount of payments for land is punishable. Responsibility in this case lies with an official who, for personal gain or due to personal interest, has taken advantage of his official position.
- Acts conducive to the implementation of illegal banking activities - crimes of a similar plan related to entrepreneurship are regulated by article 172 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This article provides liability for banking operations outside the field of official registration or without special permission when such permission (license) is mandatory. In addition, the aggravating circumstances in such situations become the fact of the commission of a crime by an organized group, as well as the fact of extracting income on an especially large scale, which entailed causing major damage to citizens, the state or other organizations.
- False entrepreneurship - offenses of this category are regulated by article 173 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for liability for the registration of a commercial enterprise without intent to carry out economic, economic or financial activities as such. Instead, the founder of a pseudo-enterprise has the main goal of obtaining a loan, exemption from taxation, extracting property benefits or concealing prohibited activities. The qualification sign (aggravating circumstance) here is the infliction of major damage to the state, society or other organizations.
- Money laundering or acquisition of property acquired illegally - responsibility for this illegal procedure is provided for in article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Crimes in the field of entrepreneurial activity, committed in this way, involve financial fraud and other transactions with property or cash that have been appropriated through knowingly illegal actions.
- Legalization of money or property assigned as a result of a crime - the offense is regulated by Article 174 (Clause 1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for the responsibility of perpetrators in cases where their receipt of monetary, movable and immovable property was based on criminal activity.
- Purchase and sale of criminally acquired property - offenses are regulated by article 175 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which prohibits the purchase or sale of property appropriated by a person in the course of his criminal activity.
- Illegal entrepreneurial activity - a general description of crimes in the field of illegal entrepreneurship and the procedure for criminal liability for it are outlined in article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Such offenses usually involve carrying out business activities on illegal rights: for example, when a legal entity works without registration or without a license, special permission, with a special focus on generating income on an especially large scale.
Thus, there are quite a lot of various varieties of criminal claims on another's property or bypassing the current legislation regarding economic relations between business entities. However, in addition to the classification of offenses indicated by the indicated articles of the Criminal Code, it is important to note the composition and methods of their manifestation.
Types of crime
In the field of entrepreneurial activity, the law provides for the clarification of such a volume of information during the investigation of the case, which is as fully and comprehensively able to shed light on the fraud in general and in detail. Helps to find the truth a clear definition of the composition of a specific crime. What is included here?
- An object is that which is directly infringed upon. In this case, it can be financial means, property of the enterprise, that is, the interests and benefits of the owner.
- The objective side is the act, action, atmosphere and industry of interest that attract a potential criminal to commit atrocities and the onset of negative consequences, while creating a real opportunity for an attempt on the part of attackers.
- A subject is a representative of entrepreneurship, an entrepreneur, a legal entity that carries out an act of malicious intent.
- The subjective side - includes two types of corpus delicti: intent and negligence. Potential criminals can deliberately commit an act of delinquency by committing fraud that entails the victim incurring significant financial losses, or unintentionally, through negligence, negligence - this includes illegal actions of a business entity regarding taxation. In turn, intent can be direct or indirect, and negligence can be caused by frivolity or negligence.
Ways of committing economic offenses
The core of the criminalistic characteristics in the case of crimes committed in the field of entrepreneurial activity are considered to be the methods of implementing an economic crime, which are its direct central link. What are they like?
From the point of view of forensics, such methods are due to a whole system of activities, including aspects aimed at achieving criminal results. Many figures, including R. S. Belkin, V. P. Lavrov, I. M. Luzgin, adhere to the position that the commission of a crime is directly proportional in importance to concealing a crime, believing that concealing means obstructing the investigation by eliminating traces of criminal activity and the criminal himself. Therefore, based on the content of the offense, the methods may be as follows:
- withholding information;
- data destruction;
- masking information;
- falsification of information and its carriers.
Tax crimes
In the field of entrepreneurial activity, the control work of the tax inspectorate at the facility is considered to be a rather effective way to identify inconsistencies and, as a result, various types of information forgery. Tax evasion here has its own characteristics. So, for example, in order to conceal objects subject to taxation, a criminal in the person of an entrepreneur needs to mislead the authorities that exercise control over compliance with tax laws. That is why quite often the subjective side takes the position of a direct way of transferring false information to the tax control authorities. And there are a great many such ways to accomplish illegal actions in the field of entrepreneurship due to tax evasion. The main ones include:
- A partial or complete refusal to reflect the results of financial transactions at the enterprise — that is, the owner of the company does not show in the accounting documentation absolutely nothing of what he originally intended to hide from the tax authorities.
- Distortion of the amount of taxation - a similar measure of an offense in terms of entrepreneurship is carried out by underestimating the volume of products sold, services rendered, acquired property, as well as reducing the amount of revenue in the reporting documentation.
- Distortion of indicators of economic efficiency - such actions can lower the level of taxation by overstating the real value of purchased goods and raw materials.
- Disguise of the object of taxation itself - measures are taken to conceal the real estate right up to the substitution of goods and making false records in documents using intellectual or material forgery.
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At the time of the commission of an economic crime, the offender encroaches on the freedom of entrepreneurial activity, on its legality, fair competition, tolerance in relations between business entities and the prohibition of a deliberately criminal form of behavior. In this case, both an active and an inactive party can be criminal. According to the law, responsibility for committing such acts is provided for at the age of sixteen.
Crime and Punishment
Like any manifestation of a violation of the law, such actions of subjects of economic relations are subject to criminal punishment. Crimes in the field of entrepreneurial activity provide for certain preventive measures on the basis of a specifically committed offense. That is, several types of possible variations in the punishment for crime, which takes place in the sphere of economic relations, are legally defined.
- Fine. This measure of punishment provides for the court to demand a monetary penalty, established in the amount of 2.5 thousand rubles. up to 1 million, or it may be the amount of the convict’s salary for a period of 2 to 5 years. The size of the penalty provided is determined by the court, taking into account the gravity of the crime and the property status of the offender. The fine may be either an additional element of the punishment, or it may be accompanied by another, more severe measure in case of malicious non-payment of the agreed amount to the convicted person within a specific time frame.
- Official sanctions. An economic entity that has violated the law, guided by its own mercenary intentions for the purpose of money laundering, is deprived of the right to occupy certain positions in the civil service, in the governing bodies, and also suppresses all opportunities to engage in professional or other types of activity with a ban period of one to 5 years (primary punishment) or from 6 to 36 months (optional).
- Mandatory work. In his free time from work (studies), the convicted person may be sentenced to perform gratuitous labor activity — socially useful work. The specific direction and direct object is determined by local government with the knowledge of the criminal executive authorities. Such work provides for the convict’s employment from 60 to 240 working hours, but not more than 4 hours a day. If the convicted person evades the performance of compulsory work, the court verdict is reviewed and the punishment in the form of restriction or imprisonment is imposed.
- Correctional work. Usually a similar preventive measure is provided for those persons who do not have a primary place of work. The institution where the sentence is assigned is determined by local authorities. This kind of punishment is established for a period from 2 months to 2 years. As in previous cases, if the convict maliciously evades this measure of restraint, he faces a more serious punishment, namely arrest.
- Restriction of freedom. This preventive measure presupposes the detention of a convicted person in a special institution isolated from society, and is applicable to persons who have reached the age of eighteen. The court renders a sentence that comes into force for a period of 1 year to 5 years in the conditions of supervision of the convicted person. In the case of deviation from the sentence, the sentence is replaced by imprisonment.
- Arrest. This measure presupposes that the convict is kept in strict isolation from society for a period of 1 to 6 months. It often happens that a convict’s evasion of compulsory labor is replaced by arrest. Arrest involves isolation for a period of at least one month.
- Deprivation of liberty. This is the most extreme preventive measure, which is provided for in cases of economic crimes. It involves sending a convicted person to a settlement, to a correctional educational facility, medical institution, or a special, strict or general regime colony to a prison. The terms of punishment for such crimes are set in the range from 2 months to 20 years. If time limits are set for several aggregate crimes, the term may increase to 30 years in prison.
Thus, one or another type of criminal punishment, as well as their size and terms, are established directly by law by the courts in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If the convict is awaiting sentence because of a relapse, and the crimes in the field of entrepreneurship were carried out by him repeatedly, the size of the punishment increases. This is especially true for those cases when the process is aggravated by the use of violence, especially large thefts, or organized crime in the form of entrepreneurial gangs.