Criminal Business of Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property: Features and Counteraction in Modern Conditions

Abstract

The author analyzes the criminal business of illicit trafficking of cultural property in Russia, describes its features, determinants and counteraction to it in modern conditions. The analysis was conducted on the basis of statistical data of different governmental organizations that monitor the condition of counteracting the criminal business in this sphere, as well as the expert assessments of leading Russian companies and specialists who study the situation with illicit trade in cultural property. As this criminal business is of transnational character, foreign sources, both statistical and analytical, were used for a comparative analysis. In addition to the analysis of criminal business, which is immediately connected with the trade in cultural property, the author also assessed the situation in the related criminal market of art forgeries. As a results, the author concludes that illicit trade in cultural property both in Russia and in the world is, on average, about 10 % of the legal trade. Statistical indicators determining the ranges of registered crimes that regulate criminal liability for activities in this sphere demonstrate a decrease in the number of thefts of objects of cultural value, and, simultaneously, an increase in illegal search and appropriation of archeological artifacts from their resting places. At the same time, trafficking of cultural property is decreasing, and only isolated cases of such crimes are registered. The analysis of the features of stolen objects showed that their Russian and global structures differ: while numismatic property and other small objects are the dominant type of goods in the world, Russian trafficking is dominated by icons (60 %). The market of forgeries of cultural property is growing, it is closely connected with the legal market of original cultural property and the market of corrupt service. The key factors determining the development of this segment of criminal market are the following: an increasing demand for objects of cultural value; the appearance of special places for their storage (freeports) with an offshore status; transnational character of criminal activities; use of telecommunication networks for finding and trading goods without identifying the participants of such trade. Counteraction is quite effective due to its well-developed mechanism of legal regulation, as well as the formation of international databases of stolen objects of cultural value, which hinders their legalization, and the use of these data for the creation of digital clones of such objects with the involvement of artificial intelligence in their identification.