Fraud in Russia: History and present

Abstract

The article deals with fraud as the corpus delicti under the current criminal legislation of Russia, as well as the stages of this type of criminal activity development during the Soviet and pre-Soviet period. The study the ways of fraud commitment such as deception and the breach of trust. The opinions of various authors on deception content and form are assessed critically. The varieties of modern fraudulent acts in Russia and in foreign countries are analyzed. They describe the most well-known cases of fraud in our own and other countries as an example. Fraud includes necessarily not only the moment of deception, but also the element of confidence. This dual essence of fraud is clearly manifested in the establishment and the activities of various financial companies. According to the RF Federal Law No 78-FL issued on March 30, 2016 the Russian Federation Criminal Code was amended by the article 1722 "Organization of activities for the raise of funds and (or) other property", which provides the criminal liability for the organization of financial pyramid activities. In order to improve the measures of fraud fighting it is proposed to create a public authority, which will be focused on fraud counteraction, including the one performed by organized groups, criminal association (criminal organization)of a transnational or an interregional type.