MOSCOW, March 23 (RAPSI) — A bill establishing that the funds officials have in their bank accounts may be seized if the owners fail to confirm that those funds were acquired legally has been submitted to the State Duma, according to the official website of the lower house of Russia’s parliament.

The bill envisages that there is to be introduced an option to turn such funds into state revenue if those are in the accounts of officials, employees of state corporations and other structures subject to the requirements of anti-corruption legislation, as well as spouses and children of such persons in the cases where the legality of the origin of these funds exceeding 10,000 rubles (about $130 at the current exchange rate) cannot be confirmed, Chair of the State Duma Committee on Security and Corruption Control Vasily Piskarev explained.

The lawmaker reminded that the legislation currently in force already provides for the possibility of turning illegally acquired properties of corrupt officials such as land plots, real estate, cars and securities into state revenue, but there was no provision in the law allowing the seizure of such funds in bank accounts.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office is to be empowered to request all necessary documents to check officials’ accounts with credit and other organizations and to turn to courts seeking the seizure of the funds depending on the results of such probes, Piskarev specified.