Throughout history, mankind has repeatedly shown its insatiable craving for constant violence. Indeed, from the moment that we all learned to hold a stick in our hands, it became clear that with the help of force we can oppress our own kind. In addition, for many centuries, violence has been the main regulator of social relations that arise within society. Even with the advent of law, people's desire for profit at the expense of their fellows did not disappear. This gradually led to the fact that in society, along with legal relations, the opposite, "wrong" appeared. From the point of view of the legal field, they are offenses. Today, scientists are studying this area of law as a separate part of it. It should be noted that the block of offenses has its own structure, scope of activity and individual institutions.
But in this article we would like to describe not the legal significance of antisocial activity, but one of its illustrative examples. Indeed, today crimes are committed on the territory of the Russian Federation that are complex and have a complex theoretical structure. In addition, such offenses are regulated by different norms of criminal and administrative legislation. In this case, we are interested in the very first sphere, since it regulates the most dangerous acts. Such today is raiding, which is gradually moving into the sphere of legal business, however, the "criminal methods" of conducting this activity are still not out of fashion in a criminal environment.
Criminal law is the main regulator of the criminal sphere
Raiding, or raider seizure, today in the Russian Federation is not something unique. Previously, this field of activity was purely criminal. However, in the modern world, people have turned it into a legal business. When we try to qualify this activity from the point of view of the criminal branch of law, it should be borne in mind that the very essence of raiding has every right to exist, which will be discussed later in the article.
However, criminal methods are those that are used directly during a raider capture. As for the criminal branch of law, it is in it that one needs to look for a way to suppress illegal methods of capture. Because criminal law is a set of rules that govern public relations in the sphere of the most dangerous illegal acts. The specifics of this industry can be traced in almost all of its institutions, methods, regulations and structure.
Functions of the criminal law industry
The criminal law industry, as mentioned earlier, has its own characteristics. They are most clearly manifested in industry functions. To date, scientists distinguished the following areas of criminal law activity, namely:
- The protective function is manifested in relations arising between law enforcement agencies and violators. That is, individual departments are vested with the right to hold criminals accountable for the commission of certain acts.
- The preventive function is very often confused with the protective, but the meaning of each of them is completely different. The precautionary focus of criminal law is manifested in the condemnation of illegal actions and the encouragement of their suppression.
- The most important is the educational function.Because, thanks to the existence of criminal law, state power develops a certain “regime” for the entire population of the Russian Federation of a psychological understanding of the incorrectness of committing crimes. However, this function “works” only if the state has a high level of legal culture. As for the Russian Federation, today this indicator is at the proper level, so the implementation of industry activities is quite possible.
Thus, criminal law is an excellent regulator of illegal public relations. In this case, the specifics of the industry are quite suitable for controlling such activities as raider capture. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not yet contain a specific article about this activity, however, a theoretical understanding of this area helps lawyers to develop a little institute of responsibility.
The concept of raiding
Raider takeover of a business can be viewed from several related points of view. Firstly, raiding is today a business area. It represents an unfriendly active takeover of the enterprise, which usually occurs against the will of its owners.
Secondly, raider seizure can also be viewed from the perspective of a criminal offense. Because in the Russian Federation most of these "schemes" are made using criminal methods. In this case, duality is created in the matter of legal regulation of the presented sphere. On the one hand, this is a business, on the other - a criminal offense. But many legal theorists point out that the activity itself may exist. Indeed, the active seizure of an enterprise is not prohibited by law or by any international customs. But such an activity is legal only when using methods permitted by law. In case of non-compliance with this significant condition raiding takes on the form of a crime of a complex nature.
Greenmail Feature
One of the specific types of raiding today can be called greenmail. But if in the first case illegal actions are most often present, then the greenmail is recognized as an activity “on the verge of ethics”. It is a sale of shares at an initially several times higher price. In case of refusal to make such a “loss-making” transaction, the greenmailer threatens to carry out a raider seizure. In general, there is nothing criminal in this case. As a rule, such blackmail is used in relation to small and undeveloped companies that have not yet “mastered” the market. Thus, raider capture and greenmail, although they are quite similar “operations,” their implementation occurs in completely different ways. Indeed, only in the first case there is a violent takeover of one of the market participants.
Legal characteristics of raider seizure
Attempted raider capture, as a rule, is quite specific. Because different criminal methods are used. This causes many problems in the process of legal qualification of the criminal nature of raiding. Because many crimes are committed at the same time, however, it is difficult to prove their entirety and completeness. This entails the appearance of “holes” in the law.
Judicial practice in modern Russia shows that most often the state fights against raiding by bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to criminal liability under the following articles: extortion, fraud, coercion to commit a transaction or refusal to complete it, arbitrariness, forgery of documents etc. However, for the most part, it is very difficult to implement a protective regime in a practical environment, since a mechanism for proving crimes such as raider seizure has not been developed.An article of the Criminal Code, which separately regulates such activities, would be an excellent way to curb the "appetites" of attackers.
Who is the "aggressor"?
Raider seizure of a plant, company or enterprise is not carried out by ordinary citizens. In most cases, “aggressors” are trained market professionals. In this case, they are not interested in the industry focus of the company. The main indicator is the economic potential of the company, that is, its monetary side. The subjects of raider activity, as a rule, include:
- financial and industrial groups;
- oligarchs;
- intermediaries who act, as a rule, in the interests of a third party - the customer;
- professional investors, greenmailers.
As we can see, all the parties represented are “experienced” market players, which indicates the danger they carry.
Raiding Methods
There are a large number of ways and methods by which raider seizure of land or enterprises is carried out. In this case, it should be noted that both legal and illegal forms of influence on the victim can be used.
At the same time, the qualification side of the issue, taking into account the norms of criminal law, does not allow us to single out the entire raider seizure process within a separate socially dangerous act, especially when the attackers act more or less legally. Most often, raiders use corrupt networks in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and prosecution authorities. With their help, pressure is exerted on the victim with the simultaneous offer of the ransom of his troubled firm. At the same time, the owner of the seized object is constantly intimidated by the arrival of the “siloviki” or the institution of a criminal case.
Other capture methods
There are other ways to capture firms and enterprises, in addition to those that have already been indicated. One of the simplest and most interesting is the sale of a finished company. In most cases, the victim entrepreneur does not even realize that such a “product” has errors in the process of legal registration. Subsequently, raiders seek in court the invalidity of such a transaction, which entails various kinds of negative consequences. One of the most negative is the raider joining the board of directors. At this stage, the attackers begin to intentionally destabilize the operation of the object of their interest.
Is it possible to defend against raiders
Raider seizure of LLCs or firms of a different form of ownership, as well as enterprises and land, is carried out thoughtfully and consistently. As a rule, it is rather difficult to defend oneself with generally accepted legal methods. Nevertheless, there are three main “levels” of protection that should be worked out in case of attempted raider capture.
- Permanent legal protection is required. That is, the company should have not one lawyer, but a whole department.
- Real ways to fight corruption should be thought out and developed. In this case, it is best to make acquaintances in law enforcement.
- All documentation must comply with regulatory requirements.
If these stages are worked out and are in proper condition, then it will be very difficult for raiders, and they will most likely retreat.
Known "victims" Raiders
If we take into account the assessments of experts, we can conclude: annually in the Russian Federation there are a large number of raider attacks. It should be noted that recently, attackers began to direct their eyes not only at large, but also at medium and small businesses. The most famous victims of raider seizure are the following companies: Arbat Prestige, East Line, Eldorado, Tyazheks, etc. Every year raider seizures are made in Moscow more and more. This trend is an extremely negative indicator for the market of modern Russia.
Raider capture of "Zhytomyr lakes"
There are high-profile situations outside the Russian Federation when raiders try to get legally operating companies. An example of this is the raider seizure of the Zhytomyr Lakes, which was undertaken in December 2015. The acquisition process of the company began to be carried out quite interestingly. Initially, the company was excluded from the state register of enterprises, and instead a new one was registered with a different management. After that, the company's management sounded the alarm and connected the media.
Conclusion
So, we tried to answer the question of what a raider seizure is. The characteristic features of this activity, the illegal methods used in it, as well as the most famous victims of the raiders, were examined.
