"Legalization" (money laundering) of funds in the interests of a legal entity (article 15.27.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation): commentary on possible law enforcement

The subject of the study is certain provisions of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, regulating, in systemic interconnection with certain norms of anti-money laundering legislation, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the specific features of bringing to administrative liability for performing, in the interests of a legal entity, transactions or financial operations involving funds or other property known to have been criminally derived by the perpetrator, with the aim of giving a legal appearance to the ownership, use, and disposal of such property (article 15.27.3 of the KoAP RF). The purpose of the study is to systematize knowledge on the topic, explain the content and meaning of the regulatory provisions governing the relevant legal relationships, attempt to overcome legal uncertainty in considering specific issues, and contribute to the formation of law enforcement practice in cases of this category. Research methods include: formal-legal (review, comparison, and interpretation of legal norms), analysis, induction, and synthesis (identification and study of individual phenomena followed by their combination into a unified whole to comprehend its essence and interconnections). The author describes the elements of the specified administrative offense, summarizes the legal positions of higher courts on the most important issues related to the legal assessment and qualification of acts as "legalization in the interests of a legal entity" (money laundering), and, based on these, interprets the main approaches to enforcing article 15.27.3 of the KoAP RF. The novelty of the study, in the absence of judicial practice and other comprehensive works on the indicated topic, is characterized by its content, based on a reasoned systematic interpretation of mutually consistent legal norms and the positions of higher courts. The application area of the results of this applied research is the activities of procurators, employees of the financial intelligence unit of Russia (Federal Financial Monitoring Service), and courts. Among other things, the conclusions substantiate the necessity of organizing interdepartmental interaction for the detection and suppression of administrative offenses of this category.

legalization, money laundering, counteraction to legalization, anti-money laundering, administrative prosecution, administrative offense, responsibility of a legal entity, procuracy, prosecutor, Federal Financial Monitoring Service