MOSCOW, December 10 - RAPSI. Amendments to the Criminal Code article on fraud will come into effect today.

The corresponding law was proposed by the Supreme Court in the spring.

The draft law was submitted to the State Duma on April 11 and was adopted in its first reading on October 23. It was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in late autumn 2012.

The law amends the Criminal Code, stipulating that a criminal case on fraud can be initiated only if the victim has filed a complaint stating that he or she had been defrauded, rather than by the authorities' direct initiative.

The only exclusions are crimes that inflict damage on state or municipal enterprises, state corporations, state companies, commercial organizations with direct state or municipality participation in the charter capital, or if state municipal assets were the subjects of the fraud.

A provision has also been introduced to the Criminal Code on copying information from electronic sources which were confiscated during investigative actions if it is impossible to return it to its legal owner.

The law will introduce six independent types of fraud according to the following categories: loan transactions, receipt of payments, use of credit and debit cards, insurance and computer technology, and fraud in business activities.

The law toughens the liability for large-scale fraud, increasing fines from 10,000 rubles ($323) to 80,000 rubles ($2,585). Fraud with regards to assets worth more than 1.5 million rubles ($48,480) is considered large-scale.

Fraud with regards to assets worth over 6 million rubles ($193,920) is considered major.

The new articles now no longer allows for the imprisonment of those guilty of minor fraud, while those guilty of a large-scale fraud may still be imprisoned for a term of up to ten years, as was the case before.

Criminal liability has been introduced for falsifying investigation results aimed at prosecuting an individual who, in fact, had not committed any offence, or caused damage to someone's honor, dignity or business reputation.

A crime of this sort will be punishable either by a fine of up to 300,000 rubles ($9,695) or by imprisonment for a term of up to four years.