It is not uncommon for ordinary citizens or individual entrepreneurs, striving at all costs to obtain monetary or commodity credit resort to deception. It seems to them that if they “accidentally forget” to indicate negative information or simply embellish the reality a little, no one will be worse off. There are cases when entrepreneurs submit one or more falsified papers along with their loan application, which may influence the bank’s decision. When deciding to commit fraud, they only want to acquire additional benefits and concessions, for example, they want to increase the loan amount and delay the repayment period, receive a deferment or installment plan for payments or return of goods, reduce interest rates for using a loan, take out a loan without collateral, etc.
At the same time, borrowers do not at all seek to appropriate other people’s money or goods; on the contrary, they expect to pay the lender in full over time. However, few people know that under unfavorable circumstances, even minor deception can lead to big troubles. Such actions are qualified as illegal receipt of a loan, which means they entail administrative (under Article 14.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) or even criminal (under Part 1 of Article 176 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) liability. The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides that obtaining a loan or preferential terms lending by providing the bank with false information about your financial condition entails the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of 1,000 to 2,000 rubles; for officials - from 2000 to 3000 rubles; for legal entities - from 20,000 to 30,000 rubles.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides that obtaining individual entrepreneur or the head of a loan organization or preferential lending terms by providing the bank with false information about his or her financial condition or the organization, if this act caused major damage, is punishable by a fine of up to 200,000 rubles or in the amount wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 18 months, or arrest for a term of 4 to 6 months, or imprisonment for a term of up to 5 years. Although the law does not stipulate in what form false information should appear, practice proceeds from the fact that the facts must still be presented in the form form official documents . The lender must be sure that the papers are genuine and contain information that corresponds to reality. If the creditor doubts the authenticity of certain documents or the reliability of the information contained in them, but still issues a loan, it will be considered that he acted at his own peril and risk, and the debtor will have the opportunity to avoid criminal or administrative prosecution. The same applies to cases where the creditor takes on faith the oral assurances of the debtor and his representatives. Moreover, this often happens, for example, when providing property as collateral, the liquidity of which raises doubts in the bank. Many people try to convince a future lender that collateral is a formality. If a creditor suspects you of illegal actions, he may contact law enforcement agencies.

After conducting a preliminary investigation, they may decide that the case is indeed worthy of "attention." Then, by order of law enforcement agencies, the borrowers' banking and credit files (application, minutes of the meeting of the credit committee (commission), loan agreement and additional agreements thereto, feasibility study of the loan, agreements on the basis of which the loan was issued) are confiscated from the bank. These and other documents reveal what deliberately false information a person provided when contacting a creditor. Forensic accounting, handwriting, technical and other examinations are prescribed to establish what information was false and what documents were fictitious. They check both the amount of money in the borrower’s accounts at the time of receiving the loan and how he used the borrowed funds. At the same time, law enforcement agencies will find out whether there are other creditors who were deceived by the debtor. They check the collateral, find out who exactly entered into suretyship, guarantee, collateral, and insurance agreements. Investigators will try to identify people who drew up fictitious documents or entered distorted information into papers. Most often, law enforcement officials are interested in the question of why the borrower turned to this particular lender. It may turn out that employees of the latter participated in illegal fraud. It is necessary to distinguish in which cases there is criminal liability and in which administrative liability.

Since one act cannot be punished twice, the perpetrators are brought to either administrative or criminal liability. In the first case, they consider that an offense has been committed and impose an appropriate fine; in the second case, a crime is committed. Let's take a closer look at the situations in which this or that responsibility for illegally obtaining a loan occurs. These actions are recognized as a crime only if major damage is caused to citizens, legal entities or the state. In other cases, administrative liability arises. And the offense provided for in Article 14.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation is considered completed at the moment when false information was communicated to persons authorized to make a decision on a loan. For example, members of the commission reviewed the false documents commercial bank. If it is not possible to prove in court the fact of causing major damage, the actions of the entrepreneur can be qualified under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. And you should also pay attention to the fact that the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation speak of knowingly false information that a person deliberately provides to the creditor. In order to bring to justice under Article 176 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to prove direct intent.

For example, if the borrower’s boss brought an inaccurate balance sheet of his company to the bank, and later it turned out that the information was given by the company’s accountant who wanted to hide own mistakes and abuse, then liability can be avoided, since there was no intent. To bring a person to administrative responsibility, you need to prove his guilt, which is expressed in the form of direct or indirect intent. Only the director of the borrower company and self employed who have entered into the relevant agreement, and to the administrative one - also the borrower company. The intent must be aimed at obtaining a loan and then repaying it. Otherwise, the actions are classified as fraud.

Useful pages.

According to the United Credit Bureau (UCB), when applying for loans, a significant part of the violations is the provision of false information about the place of work of potential borrowers. So, at the end of 2012, out of 40 thousand. submitted applications for consumer loans about 8 thousand. submitted applications containing false information about employers. This calculation was based on data received from 30 leading commercial banks in Russia, whose activities are aimed at consumer lending to the population.

Unfortunately, experts note that banks are increasingly faced with fraud and deception on the part of clients. In general, over the past year, individual borrowers tried to obtain half a billion in borrowed funds by reporting fictitious employers and places of work. And the statistics are inexorable: in 2012, the number of loan applications in which signs of fraud were detected increased by more than 30%, which affects not only creditor banks, but also bona fide clients. After all, taking into account the risks, banks are forced to factor in their possible losses into loan rates, thereby forcing decent borrowers to pay much more.

In many cases, citizens, pursuing malicious intent, indicate in applications organizations excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, companies that have mass registration or are not registered at the actual address, as well as one-day companies, information about which is not in the register of legal entities or tax authorities. This is the situation that testify OKB research data is more likely to be typical for large banks. In this case, the logic of the scammers is simple: a large credit institution experiences a huge flow of clients and applications, so there is a chance to go “undetected.”

In order to somehow reduce the banking risk when issuing consumer loans, the Central Bank published lists on its official website liquidated organizations, as well as companies that are not located at the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. At the same time, the regulator strongly recommends that credit institutions use such information when working with corporate clients to update information about legal entities that are already being serviced by the bank, as well as when assessing risks and considering issues of terminating contracts with companies. But at the same time, such lists can help lenders verify information about employment potential borrowers that they indicate in their loan applications.

Even though the lists provided The Central Bank takes note when studying client data, bankers rightly believe that this is still not enough and such information should be confirmed, at a minimum, by a telephone call to the employer. And if, as a result of the audit, evidence of falsification is discovered, then such a borrower is unconditionally denied a loan, and his identification the data is entered into a blacklist, which contains information about non-payers and fraudsters. At the same time, the bank will definitely tell its colleagues about this in order to protect them from cooperation with a dishonest client. And considering that often one fraudster tries to apply for a loan simultaneously in several banks using similar documents, such a preventive measure allows you to reduce the risks of lending to a reasonable minimum.
Lenders do not forget to enter information about scammers into the Credit History Bureau. Then the person has a record in his personal file that he tried to get a loan by providing false data. And, having such a reputation, he is unlikely to be able to regain the trust of banks and get a loan in the future.

But experts also focus on another problem – low financial literacy of the population. The fact is that citizens do not always intentionally indicate false information about the employer in applications; sometimes this happens by mistake (for example, the TIN was indicated incorrectly). In addition, it is possible that the borrower simply does not want the employer to find out about the loan, considering it an invasion of privacy.

According to market participants, the problem of borrower fraud at the stage of submitting loan applications would be completely resolved if banks had access to information from the Pension Fund. And now, in most cases, lenders are forced to simply factor in their risks into loan interest rates and take borrowers at their word.

Even when paying for a purchase in a store, there is a sign above the cash register: “Count your money without leaving the cash register.” When receiving a loan, such warnings can be read on the stands.

If, when paying for a loan, the payer incorrectly specifies the details, the receiving bank is not responsible for such errors. But there are cases when, when applying for a loan, employees credit organization, an error may be made in entering the borrower’s personal data. Therefore, when receiving documents for credit services, the borrower must:

1. Carefully read the terms of the agreement.
2. Pay special attention to the percentage specified in the contract. Intentional typos are possible.
3. Make sure your details are spelled correctly - last name, first name and patronymic. Otherwise, payments may be considered invalid.

But this does not mean that money paid to an invalid address is lost. If the issue is resolved correctly, the money will return safely to the sender.

How can I get my money back?

If an error is made in the details when making a payment via third party organization or payment terminal, you must immediately apply to this institution. The applicant must provide:

1. Receipt of payment through this organization.
2. Passport and identification code (original).
3. A loan agreement for which a fee was paid.

Information about outstanding payments is processed within 5 days. If the payment is not credited to the recipient, then it is returned to the sender. In this case, this is the bank branch from which the payment was sent. Based on the application left, the money will be transferred to the address specified by the applicant.

Difficulties may arise if you send money through an ATM and indicate the wrong card number. The money will go to an unauthorized user. It will take more time to return your funds that ended up on someone else’s card. This may harm your credit history.

How to avoid becoming a debtor?

If you find yourself in a situation, you should not expect your funds to be returned. Pay yours immediately current debt. If the bank that issued the loan to you has nothing to do with your error, you will be credited for the late monthly loan payment.

To avoid unforeseen situations, when applying for a loan, indicate your phone number, which will receive messages about card transactions or warnings about the need for payment.

If you have made your monthly payment but receive a non-payment notice, please try to resolve the issue by the 25th of the current month. Otherwise, penalties are inevitable.

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False information when applying for a loan - what are the consequences?

Hello. Please tell me, is there any threat under the law to a person who gave false information (place of work, income, telephone numbers, etc.) when applying for a loan?

Lawyers' answers

Alexander(04/05/2014 at 22:19:22)

Dear Egor!

I draw your attention to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Article 159.1. Lending fraud

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one hundred twenty thousand rubles, or in the amount of any other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to three hundred and sixty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to one year, or by restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years, or forced labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest for a term of up to four months.

I hope for your positive feedback.

Morozov Igor Vladimirovich(04/06/2014 at 05:33:51)

Art. 159.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

1. Fraud in the field of lending, that is, theft Money by a borrower by submitting knowingly false and (or) unreliable information to a bank or other lender, -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one hundred twenty thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to three hundred and sixty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to one year, or by restriction of liberty for a term of up to two years, or forced labor for up to two years, or arrest for up to four months.

2. The same act committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to three hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to four hundred eighty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to two years, or by forced labor for a term of up to five years. with restriction of freedom for a term of up to one year or without it, or imprisonment for a term of up to four years with restriction of freedom for a term of up to one year or without it.

3. Acts provided for in parts one or two of this article, committed by a person using his official position, as well as on a large scale, -

shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to three years, or by forced labor for a term of up to five years with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years, or imprisonment for a term of up to five years with a fine in the amount of up to eighty thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months or without it and with restriction of freedom for a term of up to one and a half years or without it.

4. Acts provided for in parts one or three of this article, committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale, -

shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to ten years with or without a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three years and with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years.

Note. In this article, as well as in Articles 159.3, 159.4, 159.5, 159.6 of this chapter, large size means the value of property exceeding one million five hundred thousand rubles, and especially large - six million rubles.