A BENEFICIARY MAY BE SENTENCED TO UP TO 7 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DELIBERATE BANKRUPTCY

The lower house of parliament adopted the draft law, which amends two articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the third reading. We are talking about the provisions of Articles 195 and 196 and the strengthening of liability for deliberate bankruptcy and misconduct in insolvency.

In the event of the final adoption of the law, the beneficiaries and managers of the debtor may be sentenced for up to 7 years in prison with a fine of up to 5 million rubles.

Such an outcome is possible if the fact of deliberate bankruptcy is proven.

What is more, the liability for the bankruptcy commissioners and liquidators of the debtor may also be toughened. In a situation where the illegal satisfaction of the property interests of individual creditors is proven, the perpetrators of crime face punishment in the form of imprisonment. Additionally, there is the possibility of temporary disqualification for a three-year period.

A more severe punishment may also be applied to persons who control the debtor in case of concealing or alienating the property of a bankrupt company, if this entailed causing damage to the property interests of creditors on a large scale.

The sanction can be up to 4 years in prison with a fine of up to half a million rubles.

Additionally, the amendments provide for the possibility of complete exemption from criminal liability. The norm will work in relation to persons controlling the debtor who committed a crime for the first time and actively cooperated with the investigation.

Now the bill will be considered by the Federation Council and signed in case of its approval by the president. The full text of the document can be found here.