Problems of Defining the Object of Bribery and the Specifics of Its Detection in the Present-Day Realities

Abstract

Digital currency, including such its variety as cryptocurrency, has become a part of our life. It is legal thanks to the Federal Law «On Digital Financial Assets, Digital Currency and Amendments to Some Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation» of July 31, 2020 № 259-ФЗ. However, alongside the advantages connected with any achievements in digitization, this phenomenon has got a dark side. Cryptocurrency has become not just a means of payment in the virtual world, but also an object of criminal infringements. In connection with this, it became necessary to provide for an opportunity to recognize cryptocurrency as a possible object in the crimes of corruption. The purpose of our study is to examine the current state and to identify the problems in the legal regulation of bribing a public officer on duty by transferring cryptocurrency. The authors also review the possibility of classifying the extortion of sexual services through the abuse of official authority as a manifestation of corruption. The study is based on the analysis of Russian and foreign research publications in law and economics journals. The empirical part of the study is based on the research of the Decrees of the Plenary Sessions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the resolutions of the courts of general jurisdiction. Besides, the authors conducted a content-analysis of electronic mass media on the use of cryptocurrency as an object of crimes and on blockchain technology that counteracts corruption on the Internet. The conducted research allowed the authors to come the following conclusions: 1) cryptocurrency can be recognized as an object of criminal corruption, and an obligatory condition for this recognition is the monetary evaluation of the transferred currency; 2) the mechanism of giving and receiving bribes of cryptocurrency has been determined; 3) Art. 133 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation «Compulsion to Perform Sexual Actions» cannot act as an effective instrument in fighting the extortion of sexual services as an object of bribery; 4) the criteria for differentiating between a bribery and gift have been defined; 5) law enforcement bodies need to change the methodology for the identification and investigation of crimes in cyberspace.