Ukraine registers bill on cryptocurrency confiscation

Ukrainian lawmakers have submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill regulating the mechanism for seizing cryptocurrency obtained from illicit activity.

Законопроект «Про внесение изменений в Уголовный кодекс Украины» by ForkLog on Scribd

According to the document, virtual assets are planned to be classified among electronic evidence of wrongdoing.

Cryptocurrency that was the subject of a criminal offense shall be confiscated, except where the owner did not know that it was being used illegally. If the owner is not identified, the virtual assets become the property of the state.

“Virtual assets, as well as the proceeds from them, obtained as a result of a corruption offence or money laundering, shall be confiscated if the legality of acquiring rights to these assets and the proceeds from them has not been proven in court,” the document states.

If confiscation of virtual assets is not possible, and the legality of the acquisition of rights to those assets has not been established, the convicted person is obliged to pay the value of such virtual assets.

Disputes over ownership of virtual assets are resolved in civil proceedings.

The draft bill also requires providers to disclose data about a user’s online activity.

Operators are obliged, at their own expense, to install the technical means necessary to conduct covert investigative actions and access to information about communications, subscribers, the receipt and routing of Internet services, their duration and content.

Similar requirements for telecom operators in Russia are applied under the so-called «Закон Яровой», which came into force on 1 July 2018.

Earlier, the draft law regulating cryptocurrency circulation in Ukraine, ‘On Virtual Assets’, was registered in the Verkhovna Rada in June 2020 and is due to be considered by Parliament in September.

For more on what changes for cryptocurrency holders after the law is enacted, read ForkLog’s special report.

In November 2019, Ukraine introduced criminal liability for illicit enrichment through cryptocurrency.

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