The legality of the origin of funds will be checked with everyone who, in accordance with Article 8 of the Law “On Combating Corruption”, is obliged to declare information about their income and property. This was reported to Izvestia in the Ministry of Justice. We are talking about officials of different levels, members of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, employees of state corporations, etc., as well as members of their families. The department has developed amendments to the Civil Code, allowing to withdraw not only property from corrupt officials, but also funds from accounts. The decision on confiscation will be made by the court.
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Gotta prove
As Izvestia was told in the press service of the Ministry of Justice, the bills “On Amending Article 235 of Part One of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation” and “On Combating Corruption” were submitted to the government in July. They provide for the emergence of a mechanism that makes it possible to turn into the income of the Russian Federation “unconfirmed” funds received on accounts in banks and other credit institutions from persons whose responsibility is to provide information about their income, property, as well as their family members. As specified in the Ministry of Justice, this can happen if the amount exceeds the total income of these citizens for the reporting period and the two years preceding it, and no information has been provided regarding it confirming the legality of the receipt.
The measure concerns federal, regional and municipal officials, as well as other persons who are obliged “in accordance with Article 8 of the Federal Law” On Combating Corruption “to provide the employer (employer) with information about their income, property and property obligations, as well as income, on the property and property obligations of their spouses and minor children, ”the press service of the Ministry of Justice explained.
Thus, we are talking not only about civil servants, but also about members of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, heads of state corporations, federal funds, etc. As specified in the department, the identification of violations will occur in the process of checking the reliability of the declarations submitted by these citizens.
The amendments were developed within the framework of the National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2018-2020.
Changes in the Civil Code will also require amendments to the Budget Code of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Justice said. As Izvestia previously wrote, they are being prepared by the Ministry of Finance – the bill assumes that the withdrawn funds will be sent to the Pension Fund.
– Currently, the funds confiscated in the framework of “corruption” cases are credited to the PFR budget. These are the current norms of the RF BC. The Ministry of Justice is now making clarifying amendments to the Civil Code that, in established cases, not only property may be confiscated, in respect of which, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on combating corruption, evidence has not been presented confirming the acquisition with legitimate income, but also monetary funds – in the absence of evidence the legality of their receipt. This applies only to civil servants, – the press service of the Ministry of Finance explained to Izvestia. – In this regard, corresponding changes are required to the Budget Code, which are being developed by the Ministry of Finance. In fact, this is a technical revision in order to synchronize the norms with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
This year, for the first time, the FIU received money from the sale of property confiscated from officials that was not confirmed by income. Speaking at a meeting in the Federation Council in June this year, Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said that since January the amount has amounted to 21.4 billion rubles.
At the end of last year, the Constitutional Court clarified that property can be confiscated from any person, and not just from officials and their family members, who are subject to the law on control over the expenses of civil servants. The Constitutional Court considered this issue in connection with the complaints of the former Interior Ministry colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, his relatives and friends. Previously, their property was seized for a total of more than 9 billion rubles.
So as not to blur
Kirill Kabanov, chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, told Izvestia that the initiative should be supported, since now the funds of corrupt officials will not be “diluted”. However, in his opinion, in the FIU, their movement must be carefully controlled.
– Since 2008, Russia has been actively implementing anti-corruption legislation. One of the important steps that was taken was the first to confiscate the items of illicit enrichment, and now the funds. What it is? This is a discrepancy between the declared income and expenses of officials, which are checked by the Prosecutor General’s Office, the expert explained.
According to him, the amount of illegal funds identified by law enforcement agencies has long exceeded tens of billions.
– Once, within the framework of the expert council of the government, the question arose of what to do with this money. So, for the first time there was a proposal to send this money to the Pension Fund for solving specific problems, – said Kirill Kabanov.
The expert noted that this should not be the only additional source of income for the FIU, since the amount of corruption can be different from year to year.
“It may be 20 billion, or maybe 5 billion, the numbers are unstable,” he said.
The head of the Institute of Electoral Technologies, Yevgeny Suchkov, in a conversation with Izvestia, noted that the initiative of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance could have a positive effect on the image of the authorities.
– It seems to me that this proposal has two components. The first is fiscal, since it is clear that things are not very good with filling the federal budget amid a pandemic. The second is political. Since we are talking about punishing officials, this can increase the rating of the authorities, and at all levels, – the expert noted.
In his opinion, there will be no problems with the adoption of the bill.