employee from 01.01.2022 until now
Russian Federation
UDC 343.237
Introduction. The addition of Parts 3 - 6 to Article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter the CC RF) necessitates a comprehensive analysis of the elements of money muling as a special form of aiding and abetting, as well as the identification of the specific features of its qualification. Methods. The methodological basis of this study is the universal dialectical method of scientific cognition. In addition, the study employed systemic structural and formal logical methods, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, and analogy. Results. This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the objective and subjective elements of money muling as a special form of aiding and abetting, and examines issues pertaining to its legal qualification. It is concluded that criminal liability for money muling is excluded in the event of a negative mistake by the person concerning the nature of the act. In such a case, indirect money muling occurs carried out by a money mule operator. When money muling forms part of a chain of acts preceding the commission of another offence, the money mule incurs criminal liability under the relevant part (Parts 3 - 5 or 6) of Article 187 of the CC RF as an aider and abettor to that offence, or as a principal perpetrator if their conduct constitutes the actus reus of the offence. In the latter case, the money mule is a member of a group of persons acting with prior conspiracy. The money mule operator, by performing an act that constitutes the actus reus of the relevant offence and by directing the money mule’s actions, is deemed the principal offender of such an offence and the organiser of the money muling, thereby incurring liability under the rules for the cumulation of offences. If the money mule operator does not perform the act constituting the actus reus of the relevant offence but merely directs the commission of the money muling, he or she is an aider and abettor to such an offence and, where grounds exist, its organiser, in addition to being the organiser of the money muling. If the money mule operator directs a person who mistakenly fails to perceive their actions as criminally unlawful, the money mule operator acts as an indirect perpetrator and incurs liability for the commission of the relevant offence according to the role performed (principal, organiser, or aider and abettor), as well as for the money muling - i. e., under the cumulation of offences.
money muling, money mule, money mule operator, elements of a criminal offence, legal qualification of crimes
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