MOSCOW, June 1 (RAPSI) — The Government Law-Making Commission has approved draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses establishing significant fines for financial operations and transactions involving property obtained illegally, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia Vladimir Gruzdev informs RAPSI. 

It is proposed to introduce administrative liability for legal entities whose representatives have authorized operations with property obtained by criminal means, Gruzdev said.

New regulations are to concern both financial transactions with funds of criminal origin, and transactions with property obtained illegally; in cases where official representatives of companies or executives of organizations are involved in such operations, the fines are to be at least a million rubles, the Association Chairman observed.

At the same time, the offense is to be defined as such if it is committed willingly: that is, the person should have known that an operation with criminal property is carried out. Confirmation of the fact that the property is of illegal origin will be a court verdict in a criminal case over an economic crime. For example, if a citizen convicted of tax evasion on a large scale has managed to get rid of property acquired with the money received in violation of the law through various operations, then the firms through which the transactions were carried out are to pay substantial fines, Gruzdev explained.

The Association Chair added that the statute of limitations for such cases is set at three years.