Ukraine's Rada votes to make handing over bank cards for fraud a crime

Ukraine's parliament adopted a law on 28 October that would make it a crime to hand over a bank card, account access or an e-wallet for fraud, the Verkhovna Rada's press service said. The law, registration number 16013, was submitted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Rada's summary of the adopted text says it implements Directive (EU) 2019/713 on fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment. It would widen Article 200 of the Criminal Code to the misappropriation, theft or fraudulent acquisition of payment instructions, payment instruments and other means of access to bank accounts and e-wallets.

A new Article 201-1 would set three tiers. Handing over one's own payment instrument for fraud by others carries a fine of 300 to 1,000 non-taxable minimum incomes. Receiving, buying, storing, selling or passing on other people's instruments for that purpose carries a fine of 3,000 to 5,000 such units, restriction of liberty for up to three years or two to four years in prison. Repeat offences, or those by an organised group, carry 5,000 to 10,000 units or four to six years. A first offender under the first part who reports it voluntarily and helps stop the crime can be exempted from liability.

Legal entities would also be in scope: changes to Articles 96-3 and 96-9 extend criminal-law measures against companies to acts under Articles 200 and 201-1. The investigator is the body that handles the offence in which the card or account was used. The summary says the law separates the liability of people who surrender accounts, the "money mules", from that of the organisers.

The bill passed its first reading on 15 September after the law enforcement committee recommended it the day before, Debet-Kredit reported, putting the top fine for the first tier at UAH 17,000. Kosht reported the same day that the first-reading text allowed up to six years for trading in others' cards and eight for repeat offences; the Rada's account of the adopted law gives two to four years and four to six.

For banks and payment firms that detect mule accounts, the law would create a specific criminal offence for the account holders as well as the organisers. It is one of several financial laws passed this month, after the Rada ended the VAT exemption on small parcels; our explainer on the IMF programme sets out the governance benchmarks. The provisions apply only once the law enters into force, and the Rada's summary gives no date for that.