Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sent a bill to the Verkhovna Rada that provides for a significant tightening of liability for the organization and operation of fraudulent call centers. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the text of the draft document published on the parliament's official website. The initiative concerns so-called 'office workers' — employees who, under wartime conditions, lure citizens into participating in remote fraud schemes.
The Essence of the Bill
According to the published draft, organizers and participants in fraudulent call centers may face criminal liability in the form of imprisonment for a term of more than ten years. In the headline of the RBC-Ukraine article, the upper limit of the penalty is stated as 'up to 12 years.' Thus, the legislator intends to move the activity of 'office workers' from the category of relatively minor offenses into the category of serious crimes, which should enhance the deterrent effect on potential participants in such structures.
Exemption from Liability
The draft document also contains a provision for exemption from criminal liability for a person who voluntarily reported to law enforcement authorities the creation or operation of a fraudulent organization. The text clearly specifies an exception: the creator of the fraudulent organization themselves is not exempt from punishment. This structure, as intended by the authors, is meant to encourage reporting by ordinary participants without affecting those at the head of the scheme.
Context: The President's Statements and August Inspections
The day before, on September 2, Volodymyr Zelensky publicly stated that Ukraine is preparing to strengthen penalties for organizing fraudulent call centers and participating in them, emphasizing that liability should be 'clear and strict.' The initiative submitted to the Rada is a practical continuation of this statement. It is separately noted that as early as August, police across the country were inspecting the infrastructure of fraudulent call centers: according to available data, employees of such organizations lured people onto fake investment platforms and gained access to their accounts.
Contradictory Data
The available wording contains a slight discrepancy in the designation of the upper limit of the penalty. In the general description of the initiative, the term is phrased as 'more than 10 years,' whereas in the headline of the RBC-Ukraine article it is stated as 'up to 12 years.' These values do not contradict each other in meaning (12 years falls within the 'more than 10' range), however, the exact maximum figure will be fixed only in the final text of the bill after its consideration by the parliament. Until that moment, both formulations should be regarded as approximate.
