Tabor goes to the bank: how scammers profit from children's payments
In the criminal case of embezzlement of state payments with the help of false birth certificates of children, committed in Khabarovsk Krai, there are new episodes. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Kamchatka episodes
Police have established two more facts of embezzlement, which may be involved representatives of the Ogly family living in Khabarovsk Krai and their accomplices. This time the fake children were registered in Kamchatka. The main suspects in these episodes are Sabina and Svetlana Ogly; the case involves the same amount of damage caused to the treasury - 2,269,522 rubles each. Unlike the previous episodes, the birth certificates were obtained without medical certificates of birth. The tool of fraud were false witnesses who confirmed in the registry office the fact of birth of children.
Recall, in November 2024 the Central District Court of Khabarovsk passed a guilty verdict on 20 residents of Khabarovsk Krai, as well as their accomplice pediatrician Maxim Davletbaev on numerous episodes of fraud. According to the assessment of the investigation, the accomplices caused damage to the state for a total amount of over 18 million rubles.
"The court appointed to the participants of the organized criminal group punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term from three years six months to six years of imprisonment with serving in a penal colony of general regime, accomplices - from two to four years of imprisonment conditionally with a probationary period of three to four years", - reports the regional Prosecutor's office.
Not a rarity anymore
"Izvestia" earlier wrote about the fact that fraud with non-existent children has become widespread in the country. Criminals take advantage of gaps in the law, which allows them to steal public money. One of the problems is the lack of a clear system of tracking the fate of a child after birth by the state.
Law enforcement agencies are aware of the problem and systematically identify groups that have put the illegal obtaining of birth certificates on the stream for further illegal enrichment at the expense of federal and regional budgets.
"According to the results of the conducted operative-search activities and investigative actions, 708 facts of registration in the registry offices of children allegedly born outside medical institutions were revealed, for each of which 631 women received social benefits and (or) maternity (family) capital in 59 subjects of the Russian Federation. On these facts 229 criminal cases have been initiated in 52 regions, 217 persons have been brought to criminal responsibility," reads the reply to Izvestia's inquiry from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Legal solution
The agency noted that after the detention of active members of the groups, the number of applications to register children outside medical institutions in MFCs and civil registry offices has decreased.
"But still these facts take place due to the imperfection of the current legislation, because the registration of children born outside a medical institution and without medical assistance, based on the testimony of a person present during childbirth, requires only the presence of the witness himself in the registry office or MFC, the presence of two passports (the witness and the mother of the child), as well as statements of the established form without providing any medical, notarial documents, which facilitates the commission of fraudulent actions."
Also, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on the preparation, together with the State Council of Tatarstan, of a legislative initiative to amend Article 48 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation and Articles 14 and 16 of the Federal Law "On Acts of Civil Status".
Criminal legislation establishes liability for fraud in receiving payments from the state, civil lawyer Alla Georgieva told Izvestia.
- If a woman comes to the civil registry office with witnesses (and they can be any person) in order to obtain a birth certificate of a nonexistent child, then both she and the witnesses are liable as accomplices," the expert says.
How to return the sovereign's
In addition to criminal punishment, the lawbreaker will have to return the money received in full, says Alla Georgieva.
- This happens within the framework of a criminal case. That is, first a criminal case is initiated, the damage is assessed (the amount of payments is multiplied by the number of months in the period when the money was received), and then a civil suit is filed against the violator as part of the criminal case, " she explains.
Such a suit can be filed either by a prosecutor or by a state body authorized for such recovery.
- When considering the civil case, the property belonging to the debtor is seized, so that it does not happen that an actually lawful court decision becomes unenforceable," the lawyer informs.
In addition to receiving monthly benefits there are schemes in relation to the matkapital (very often there are real estate transactions between relatives). And if with its use were concluded real estate transactions, they can be challenged in court. The registry entry in this case can be canceled.
The same applies to the return of funds to the state, when a certificate for repair work in the residential premises is cashed in.
Before filing a lawsuit in court to recover the illegally obtained funds, the state body may request the violator to return the entire amount within the period specified by the body. If the funds are not received, the recovery takes place in court and enforcement proceedings are enforced.
