How not to become a victim of the criminal code when working with cryptocurrency?
If the level of damage is large, then there is a risk of falling under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – evasion of an individual from paying taxes in excess of 2.7 million rubles within three financial years in a row is recognized as a crime and is punishable by a fine from 100 thousand to 300 thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to 1 year.
Non-fulfillment of civil obligations borders on the fraud. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for liability for criminal bankruptcies, as well as for the legalization (laundering) of funds and the financing of terrorism. The sanctions reach up to 10, or even up to 20 years in prison.
At the same time, funds converted from cryptocurrencies acquired as a result of committing a crime can be considered as the subject of a crime (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 07.07.2015 No. 32 (ed. dated 26.02.2019) "On Judicial practice in cases of legalization (laundering) of funds or other property acquired by criminal means, and on acquisition or sale of property knowingly obtained by criminal means"). This explanation was given by the Supreme Court on the basis of FATF Recommendation No. 15.
Considering the fact that in October 2021, the FATF amended the previous recommendations to include such tools as stablecoins, DeFi, decentralized or distributed applications (DApp), any systems using multi-signature technology, as well as peer-to-peer transactions in the concept of virtual assets and their providers, we can expect additional clarification from the Supreme Court Courts in relation to such assets, as well as on the extension of the actions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to them.
How to avoid criminal liability?
The main character of Ilf and Petrov's novels used to say: "The Criminal Code must be respected!". However, as for cryptocurrencies, there is an imperfection of legislative structures, a lack of specialists and established schemes for investigating crimes in this area. Therefore, it is often possible to meet the wrong qualifications of specialists, which entails the initiation of a criminal case with no crime.
In such conditions, the main measure of salvation is a timely consultation with a specialist, which should be carried out before taking any action or starting any activity. This will help to identify the associated criminal law risks and form a competent legal position on the situation.
If law enforcement agencies have nevertheless initiated a criminal case or invited you to have a "conversation", then it must be remembered that there are no friendly conversations "under the protocol". This is a procedural action with all the ensuing consequences. Therefore, it is important to consult a specialist and take a lawyer to give explanations.
If this, for some reason, could not be done, then there is a whole set of rights that anyone can use:
· The right to qualified legal assistance (Article 48 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). At the same time, an appointed lawyer will not always be able to immediately understand the difficult issues of cryptocurrency. If you have a lawyer's phone number specializing in cryptocurrency issues, feel free to demand the exercise of your right to make a phone call (Part 7 of Article 14 of the Police Law) or contact your relatives to contact a lawyer.
· Do not engage in a dialogue with law enforcement officers before the arrival of a lawyer, and the law provides as much as 24 hours for this. The right not to testify against oneself and one's close relatives is enshrined in Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It is very difficult to carry out a procedural action with the unwillingness of the person and without the use of physical or psychological pressure. For example, an examination if a person bent over and covered his/her face with his hands, not to mention giving evidence or signing documents.
· If there is any impact: physical contact, raising the tone of voice, threats of harm to you or your relatives, statements about adverse developments, be sure to indicate this in the notes to the protocol. There is always such a line, even on administrative protocols. If there is no such line, then you need to demand to leave a place titled "Comments to ..." and exercise your right to leave comments on the procedural document. Statements that you can't write anything in the protocol other than a signature are illegal!
The above measures will already be enough before the lawyer arrives and the situation is resolved.
If you believe that you have suffered from the actions of third parties, especially in the field of cryptocurrency, and law enforcement agencies unreasonably refuse to initiate criminal proceedings, then you can often not only appeal, but also cancel the decision to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings.
Non-fulfillment of civil obligations borders on the fraud. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for liability for criminal bankruptcies, as well as for the legalization (laundering) of funds and the financing of terrorism. The sanctions reach up to 10, or even up to 20 years in prison.
At the same time, funds converted from cryptocurrencies acquired as a result of committing a crime can be considered as the subject of a crime (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 07.07.2015 No. 32 (ed. dated 26.02.2019) "On Judicial practice in cases of legalization (laundering) of funds or other property acquired by criminal means, and on acquisition or sale of property knowingly obtained by criminal means"). This explanation was given by the Supreme Court on the basis of FATF Recommendation No. 15.
Considering the fact that in October 2021, the FATF amended the previous recommendations to include such tools as stablecoins, DeFi, decentralized or distributed applications (DApp), any systems using multi-signature technology, as well as peer-to-peer transactions in the concept of virtual assets and their providers, we can expect additional clarification from the Supreme Court Courts in relation to such assets, as well as on the extension of the actions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to them.
How to avoid criminal liability?
The main character of Ilf and Petrov's novels used to say: "The Criminal Code must be respected!". However, as for cryptocurrencies, there is an imperfection of legislative structures, a lack of specialists and established schemes for investigating crimes in this area. Therefore, it is often possible to meet the wrong qualifications of specialists, which entails the initiation of a criminal case with no crime.
In such conditions, the main measure of salvation is a timely consultation with a specialist, which should be carried out before taking any action or starting any activity. This will help to identify the associated criminal law risks and form a competent legal position on the situation.
If law enforcement agencies have nevertheless initiated a criminal case or invited you to have a "conversation", then it must be remembered that there are no friendly conversations "under the protocol". This is a procedural action with all the ensuing consequences. Therefore, it is important to consult a specialist and take a lawyer to give explanations.
If this, for some reason, could not be done, then there is a whole set of rights that anyone can use:
· The right to qualified legal assistance (Article 48 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). At the same time, an appointed lawyer will not always be able to immediately understand the difficult issues of cryptocurrency. If you have a lawyer's phone number specializing in cryptocurrency issues, feel free to demand the exercise of your right to make a phone call (Part 7 of Article 14 of the Police Law) or contact your relatives to contact a lawyer.
· Do not engage in a dialogue with law enforcement officers before the arrival of a lawyer, and the law provides as much as 24 hours for this. The right not to testify against oneself and one's close relatives is enshrined in Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It is very difficult to carry out a procedural action with the unwillingness of the person and without the use of physical or psychological pressure. For example, an examination if a person bent over and covered his/her face with his hands, not to mention giving evidence or signing documents.
· If there is any impact: physical contact, raising the tone of voice, threats of harm to you or your relatives, statements about adverse developments, be sure to indicate this in the notes to the protocol. There is always such a line, even on administrative protocols. If there is no such line, then you need to demand to leave a place titled "Comments to ..." and exercise your right to leave comments on the procedural document. Statements that you can't write anything in the protocol other than a signature are illegal!
The above measures will already be enough before the lawyer arrives and the situation is resolved.
If you believe that you have suffered from the actions of third parties, especially in the field of cryptocurrency, and law enforcement agencies unreasonably refuse to initiate criminal proceedings, then you can often not only appeal, but also cancel the decision to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings.