Documentary fraud. Prosecution and defense

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The crime of “document fraud” is a special type of criminal offense against another person’s property, insofar as it involves two acts – the use of a document with false content/a false or forged document and the introduction or maintenance of a misconception in a person that this document constitutes a legal basis for obtaining movable or immovable property.

When is there documentary fraud?

In order for charges to be brought or a conviction to be handed down for document fraud, two conditions must be met simultaneously:

  1. one person to use a document with false content/untrue or altered document, knowing that it concerns such document;
  2. on the basis of which he has obtained, without legal grounds, foreign movable or immovable property with the intention of appropriating it.
Which document contains false information?
This is a document whose author has certified false facts, circumstances, or statements.
Which document is false?
This is a document that appears to originate from a person other than its actual author. False documents are those whose signature has been forged.
Which document has been altered?
This is a document whose content has been unlawfully altered.
In the crime of “document fraud,” the perpetrator uses a document with false content/a false or forged document to introduce, maintain, or use an already existing deception in an official or other person in order to motivate them to dispose of property that the perpetrator wishes to appropriate.
Document fraud will be present both when the perpetrator himself has drawn up the document and when it has been drawn up by another person and the perpetrator only uses it for the purpose of illegally obtaining another person’s movable or immovable property.
A person who has drawn up a document with false content, a false or forged document, thereby knowingly enabling another natural or legal person to obtain movable or immovable property without legal grounds, shall also be liable for document fraud.
Example.
Person X presents to a notary public a certificate of inheritance in which he is listed as the sole heir of a deceased person who left behind several valuable real estate properties. Person X is not the sole heir or is not an heir at all, i.e., the certificate of inheritance contains false information. Aware of this fact and wishing to appropriate the properties, Person X presents the document to the notary, thereby misleading him into believing that he is their rightful owner and is entitled to have a notarial deed issued in his name for them. The document was prepared by person Y, who received a certain amount of money from person X for the “service.”

Penalties and defense in the event of charges for documentary fraud

The legislator considers document fraud to be a serious crime and therefore provides for imprisonment of between two and eight years. The punishment is the same for both the person who used the document and the person who created it.

The fact that this is a serious crime means that the involvement of a criminal defense attorney is mandatory by law. The accused/defendant may appoint a lawyer of their choice, otherwise a public defender will be appointed.

The severity of the punishment means that, upon conviction, it is not possible for the convicted person to be released from criminal liability by imposing an administrative penalty, nor can the imposed punishment of “imprisonment” be replaced with probation. However, under certain conditions, it is possible to obtain a suspended sentence, i.e., the execution of the imposed penalty of “imprisonment” may be postponed for a period determined by the court. A more favorable outcome when a conviction is handed down is also possible if the penalty is set at the lowest limit in the presence of numerous or exceptional mitigating circumstances. These possibilities are assessed in light of the facts, circumstances, and evidence in each specific case.

As with almost every criminal offense, the legislator has provided for more severe and less severe punishable offenses in relation to the crime of “document fraud.”
More severely punishable offences concern acts that pose a significantly greater public danger than the ordinary case of a similar crime. Such offences are provided for in cases where the misappropriated property belongs to funds belonging to the European Union or has been provided by them to the Bulgarian state. In this case, the punishment is imprisonment for three to ten years, with a suspended sentence possible only if the punishment imposed is within the minimum range or lower.
Document fraud is punished more severely in cases where the property involved is of significant value or the act constitutes a dangerous repeat offense. In such cases, the punishment is imprisonment for a term of three to fifteen years.
Important!
Property is considered large in size when its monetary value exceeds 70 times the minimum wage for the country at the time of the offense.
The case constitutes dangerous recidivism in two scenarios:
  1. when the perpetrator commits the crime after having been sentenced to serve an effective term of imprisonment of not less than one year for a crime punishable by five or more years’ imprisonment
  2. when the perpetrator commits the crime after having been convicted two or more times to imprisonment for intentional crimes of a general nature and has effectively served at least one of the sentences.
The punishment is particularly severe in cases of document fraud involving particularly large sums, which constitute particularly serious cases. In this case, the law provides for imprisonment of ten to twenty years. In this case, a suspended sentence is only possible if the court imposes a sentence below the lowest limit of three years, if it finds multiple or exceptional mitigating circumstances.
Important!
Document fraud on a particularly large scale is present when the value of the misappropriated property exceeds 140 times the minimum wage applicable in the country at the time of the offense.
The act constitutes a particularly serious case when the harmful consequences are significantly more serious than in the ordinary case of this crime. Practice shows that almost always, when damage of a particularly large scale is established, the charge is also brought for the fact that the case is at the same time particularly serious.
In addition to serious punishable offenses, The Criminal Code provides for the possibility of imposing a lighter penalty, if committed documentary fraud, constituting a minor case. In this case the punishment is deprivation of liberty for up to two 26 years or probation.
Thus the defined size of the punishment shows that it is possible for the perpetrator to a8> be released from criminal liability with the imposition of an administrative penalty, if the conditions for this are present. This less serious punishable offense may not a25> can be applied in cases where the appropriated property is from funds belonging to the European Union or provided by them to the Bulgarian state.
Important!
A minor case exists when, in view of the absence of harmful consequences or their obvious insignificance, the act and/or the perpetrator represent a lower degree of public danger than in an ordinary case of document fraud.
In all cases of charges brought for document fraud, regardless of whether it is a simple, more serious, or less serious offense, it is advisable to engage an experienced, established, and competent criminal defense attorney in a timely manner.
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