Bashkortostan Parliament has submitted bill against cyber fraud to State Duma

The Bashkortostan Parliament has submitted a draft federal law against cyber fraud to the State Duma. The Chairman of the State Assembly of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Konstantin Tolkachev, explained that the methods of stealing money from citizens' accounts are becoming increasingly sophisticated and technological. Meanwhile, the elements of crimes in the Criminal Code were formulated back when the fight against cyber fraudsters was just beginning.

"Today, controversial situations often arise in judicial practice. The same offense can be qualified in different ways. In one case, the perpetrator may be held criminally liable, while in another case, they may get off with a fine. For example, suppose theft is committed using someone else's bank card for an amount of up to 2,500 rubles. In that case, it is qualified as theft, and the perpetrator will be liable under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If it is fraud, then this will be petty theft, for which administrative liability is provided. But arbitrary interpretation is unacceptable. Legal norms must be unambiguous. The draft federal law we propose establishes a uniform approach to the imposition of criminal penalties," said Konstantin Tolkachev.

According to the text of the draft law, the article "Theft of non-cash funds" will qualify "theft from a bank account or about electronic funds, as well as using electronic means of payment, as well as by entering, deleting, blocking, modifying computer information or other interference in the functioning of means of storing, processing or transmitting computer information or information and telecommunications networks, regardless of the method of theft."

Author: Daria Subbotina