Russia considers confiscating assets of relatives of corrupt officials

The Russian State Duma (lower house) Committee on civil, criminal, procedural and arbitration law has just published a bill on confiscation of property of relatives of officials convicted of corruption.

According to experts, this measure will force corrupt people to consider more about the consequences of their actions, and at the same time help compensate for the damage to the state caused by officials abusing their power.

Illustrative photo. (Source: AFP/VNA)

According to experts, corrupt officials often let their relatives own assets obtained illegally, so when they are arrested, these "corrupt officials" seem to have no assets.

In the new bill, lawmakers propose expanding the scope of asset confiscation to include family members of corrupt criminals.

In addition, for corrupt individuals who embezzle assets to relatives abroad, Russian parliamentarians proposed a prison sentence of 10-20 years.

Also under the new bill, those sentenced to prison for corruption will not be able to be pardoned or released until they have fully repaid all of the corrupt assets.

The issue of confiscation of illegally acquired assets has long been discussed in Russia. Last November, the State Duma adopted a bill on confiscation of assets of corruption criminals.

A bill allowing the confiscation of assets of relatives of drug traffickers is currently pending consideration by the State Duma.

Russia has also included in the Criminal Code a provision for confiscation of money and valuable assets of criminal origin from relatives of terrorists./.

According to VNA