Classification of Crimes Related to the Destruction, Forgery or Replacement of the Vehicle Assemblies and Units

Abstract

Vehicle ownership is a significant achievement in scientific and technological progress, the logical values of civilization, without which it is impossible to imagine the life of European society. In Ukraine, as elsewhere in the world, the number of vehicles is growing steadily every year. In recent years, both in Ukraine and in foreign countries among the so-called «organized car crime» crimes related to destruction, forgery or replacement of assemblied and units of the vehicle are identified. Crimes involving the destruction, forgery or veplacement of vehicle units as a form of criminal activity because of extreme attractive ness to criminals. There are clandestine workshops where vehicles became objects of criminal actions. As well the criminal groups control such markets where vehicles are sold with counterfeit or altered numbers of units and assemblies. The law enforcement is of serious concern about uprising crime, entitled in legal literature as «criminal vehicle business». This concept covers a wide range of crimes – namely theft, alteration or destruction of identification numbers of units and assemblies, sales of stolen goods, illegal customs clearance, illegal vehicle registration. Since criminal vehicle business occupies a niche in the criminal environment it is not appropriate to separate it from other crimes such as fraud, murder, robbery, extortion, etc. Criminal groups specializing in vehicle business, take control of the activities of commercial entities engaged in importing and sale of foreign vehicle and exporting of stolen vehicles. Under their control vehicle plants and highways with crossing points. The substantion crime income with minimal risk and expenses made «cvehicle business» extremely attractive to organized crime groups and became a major source of profit. Illegal criminal business based on the stolen vehicle transportations becomes transnational and the income is not inferior to drug trafficking and arms trade. Against this background, low level of prevention, detection and investigation of crimes related to motor vehicles is seemed of nigh danger and one reason for this situation is the lack of high-tech scientific support expert and operative – search activity and investigative practices of law enforcement bodies, adequate to current needs. This article discusses some aspects of the classification of crimes involving destruction, falsification or change of parts and units of the vehicle.