In some Telegram chats, illegal services are sold, and, it turned out, among them is the preparation of completely official vaccination certificates. AiF.ru understood how such a document differs from a fake and what threatens illegal service providers and their customers.
What are 'real' certificates but illegal?
If an ordinary counterfeit does not pass control on the Unified Portal for Public Services and Functions (EPGU), then these certificates of a different level are & mdash; they are prepared by the doctors themselves and record information about the suspected vaccination in a special state register (that is, these documents are checked).
How the service is organized, the correspondent of the Baza Telegram channel found out, making himself “ virtual '' vaccination. It costs from 10 to 20 thousand rubles. The whole registration process is the same as the official one, except for the injection itself & mdash; the vial containing the vaccine is simply discarded. To obtain a certificate, the client must provide the passport data and SNILS number, as well as have a confirmed account on state services, in which he will create an “observation log” .
What drives citizens to demand such a service?
In Russia, vaccination rates are quite low. According to open source data, the proportion of people vaccinated in the country does not exceed 10%. At the same time, in many countries this figure has already exceeded 20-30%.
For this reason, in some regions of Russia they are considering the possibility of introducing compulsory vaccination. Such a prospect frightens suspicious citizens, some do not want to be vaccinated. In addition, to speed up the pace of vaccinations and motivate the Russians, the authorities organized raffles with substantial prizes. So, for example, in Moscow a car will be played among the vaccinated.
All this pushes those who are absolutely not ready to be vaccinated to look for alternative means and to buy fake certificates.
What is the penalty for issuing an illegal certificate?
Despite the fact that the document is prepared by doctors in accordance with all the rules, this is a serious offense & mdash; both from the entrepreneur and from the client, explained to AiF.ru lawyer of the Medical Law Center Andrey Karpenko … As in the case of the usual false certificate , here we are talking about a document forgery, because in the end they do not get the vaccine.
“ There is an intention on both sides, both doctor and patient, who fully understand that he will not receive a vaccine, but that he will be issued a certificate. Here you can choose three or four elements of the & # 39; offense & # 39 ;, & mdash; rated by expert.
In accordance with Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Forged, production or circulation of false documents, state awards, stamps, seals or letterheads”; executors can be imprisoned or sentenced to perform forced labor for up to two years.
Customers for the use of fakes can be fined up to 80,000 rubles or the amount of his income for six months, as well as a arrest up to six months or compulsory labor (up to 480 hours) or correctional work (up to two years).
In addition, the owners of such fictitious documents endanger the lives of many people, Karpenko explains. They still remain a potential source of infection, although the & mdash; should not. The creation of a certificate and its possession fall under Article 236 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules. “
What threatens under the article on violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules?
by neglect of mass disease or poisoning of people, as well as the creation of such a threat. For this they are fined 500-700 thousand rubles, they can be deprived of the right to hold a certain position for two or three years, or imprisoned (sent to work) for up to two years. .
In addition, if the violation results in the death of someone, the penalty will be even more severe. This, for example, if the owner of a fake certificate infects someone with the coronavirus and dies from complications. In this case, the fine will increase to one to two million rubles (or the amount of income for one to three years), and the prison sentence or forced labor – & mdash; up to three to five years old.
The mitigating factor that the certificate client did not expect someone to die will not relieve them of responsibility.
Are the authorities fighting against the black market in certificates and can they detect counterfeits?
Authorities are already aware of illegal sales of these certificates. The head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications, Alexander Khinshtein sent a letter to the office of the Attorney General asking him to monitor checks on the provision of these illegal services and to take action.
As Andrey Karpenko noted, the services can identify offenders very well.