Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sent Bill No. 16013 to the Verkhovna Rada, which proposes introducing criminal liability for unlawful actions involving payment instruments, users' individual account information, and access to bank and payment accounts. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the text of the document. The initiative essentially elevates to the level of criminal law what law enforcement had previously pursued under related offenses — covering both so-called 'drops' and the individuals who directly build and operate fraud schemes.
Who Are 'Drops' and Why Are They Being Placed on a Separate Level of Liability
In plain terms, the bill establishes liability for two groups of people. The first — 'drops': individuals who provide their bank cards, credentials, and access to accounts or electronic wallets so that third parties can carry out fraudulent operations. The second — the organizers and executors of the schemes themselves, who collect, buy, and resell other people's payment instruments and access credentials. Distinguishing these roles in the document allows penalties to be calibrated according to the degree of involvement: from relatively mild sanctions for 'lending out' one's own details to multi-year prison terms for systematically working with others' cards and data.
Fines and Sentences: What Awaits the Participants in the Schemes
According to the text of the bill, a 'drop' who transfers their card, credentials, or access to an account/electronic wallet for the purpose of enabling fraud by others faces a fine of 5,100 to 7,000 thousand hryvnias (i.e., 5.1 to 7 million UAH). For obtaining, purchasing, storing, selling, or transporting others' cards and credentials for the same purpose, a fine of 51,000–170,000 UAH is provided, or restriction of liberty for 2–5 years, or imprisonment for 2–6 years; a repeat offense carries 5 to 8 years of imprisonment. For forging payment instructions, as well as the unlawful issuance or use of electronic money, a fine of 51,000–85,000 UAH and restriction or deprivation of liberty for 2–4 years are set. Theft, misappropriation, and obtaining payment instruments by deception are punished separately: a fine of 85,000–136,000 UAH and restriction or deprivation of liberty for 3–5 years, while a repeat offense carries a fine of 85,000–170,000 UAH or 4–6 years in prison.
Context: The Fight Against Fraudulent Call Centers
The submission of the document fits into a broader course of tightening liability for organizing fraudulent call centers and schemes involving bank cards and 'drops,' a course the president himself announced the day before, as the outlet notes. Last month, according to available data, police across the country were inspecting the infrastructure of such call centers, whose employees, in particular, lured citizens onto fake investment platforms and gained access to their accounts. Bill No. 16013 can be viewed as the legislative codification of practices that law enforcement is already applying during these inspections.
Status of the Document
At present, the initiative is at the stage of being submitted to parliament: this is a bill, not an enacted law, so the specified fines and sentences will take effect only after the document passes all readings in the Verkhovna Rada and is signed. Until then, the current version of the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code continues to apply in its existing form.
