Crime in the field of housing construction through the prism of legislative reform

The author analyzes the trends of crime in the field of housing construction, focusing on such an aspect as the high adaptability of developers to the next measures taken at the state level to stabilize the housing market, protect the rights and legitimate interests of participants in shared-equity construction. The author comes to the conclusion that neither the adoption of the Federal Law of December 30, 2004 No. 214-FZ “On participation in the shared construction of apartment buildings and other real estate objects and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation”, neither the subsequent addition of such a significant novelty as the escrow account regime, nor the introduction of special restrictive measures of a regional nature, contributed to minimizing illegal acts in this area. Developers continue to undertake methods and techniques of concealing true intentions, which, in general, are expressed in creating the appearance of legitimate entrepreneurial or other activities not prohibited by law, in combination with: a) the production and use of forged title or other documents (for example, documents confirming the rights to a plot of land for construction); b) the commission of fictitious transactions (creating the appearance of acquiring apartments through escrow accounts; transit resale of land); c) using front persons or organizations as fictitious intermediaries. In this regard, the author suggests recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the investigation in terms of identifying elements of fictitious activity as techniques for concealing illegal acts.