Deputy wants cryptocurrencies in article about embezzlement in Brazil

A federal delegate in Brazil presented yet another bill that could include cryptocurrencies in the article on embezzlement. According to the drafter of the proposal, there is a growth in the criminal use of this in transactions, including via the dark web.

What is notable is that the author of the proposal, Deputy Cleber Verde (Republicans-MA), had already introduced another bill that mentions cryptocurrencies.

At the time, he called for the use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies by the Brazilian Emission Reduction Market (MBRE). In this way, he asked to stimulate the use of technologies in the country so that the trade of carbon credits in the country could be facilitated.

Deputy wants cryptocurrencies in article about embezzlement in Brazil

In Brazil’s Penal Code, Article 171 says that people who gain benefits for themselves or for third parties, by committing fraud and inciting the victim to mislead, commit the crime of embezzlement.

The penalty for the crime is 1 to 5 years plus a fine, a prediction that still isn’t quoted by the cryptocurrency market. In recent days, however, Bill 1,300/2022 has arrived in the Chamber of Deputies to change this reality.

At the start of the proceedings, he foresees that crimes committed with cryptocurrencies will punish the perpetrators, be it bitcoin or other digital currencies. The proposal provides for the inclusion of item VII, which places cryptocurrencies as a foreseen offense.

†VII – organizing, managing, offering or mediating operations involving virtual assets, to obtain an unlawful advantage to the detriment of others, by misdirecting or misleading someone, by means of artifice, ruse or any other fraudulent means.†

In justification, the deputy cited bitcoin as a currency and even Libra, a former Facebook project that never got off the ground.

Remarkably, the deputy mentions that there was an increase in transactions with bitcoin and even in the Libra cryptocurrency, which was supposed to be a Facebook project but was recently halted.

“Currently, cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, libra, among others, are gaining more space in online transactions, from simple investments in cryptocurrencies to purchases of goods and services. With this “popularization” of transactions involving virtual currencies, and without an effective inspection of the intended origin of these currencies, there is a growing number of illicit dealings through cryptocurrencies.

The project arrived last Friday (27) at the Constitution and Justice and Citizenship Commission (CCJC), where its merits will be analyzed by parliamentarians. If approved by the House, it has yet to be evaluated by the Senate and signed by the president.

The well-known “Marco das Cryptocurrencies” bill includes a provision to punish crimes involving digital currencies, which is currently being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies after approval by the Senate.