On the State of Counterfeiting during the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Special Military Operation

Counterfeiting is how criminal law and forensic sources refer to the illegal manufacture, storage, transportation or sale of counterfeit money or securities. This type of crime in the Russian Federation is one of the priorities for the state in general and the law enforcement system in particular, as it has a direct impact on the economic component of the country. Cash is still the most popular means of payment among the population. In the article under consideration, the author has carried out an analysis of criminal statistics on crimes of the category in question during a period of great upheavals for the state-events of extreme years and up to the present. The author has studied the factors that influenced the quantitative indicator of the identification of monetary surrogates in Russia during the period from the beginning of the spread of the new coronavirus infection SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and up to the present time in connection with the conduct by the allied forces of the Russian Federation, Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics of a special military operation for denazification and demilitarization of the Republic of Ukraine. The article gives a subjective assessment of the conditions that had a direct impact on the state of counterfeiting in the country during the designated period. Recommendations are given on preventive measures necessary to reduce the total number of money counterfeits in circulation.

counterfeiting, money, counterfeit money, money surrogates, production, sale, criminal statistics