MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. Nearly half of all crimes recorded by law enforcement agencies in Russia are related to theft and fraud, the press service of the prosecutor general’s office told TASS.

According to legal statistics for the first four months of this year, theft remains the most common crime. "However, the number of thefts has continued to decrease in recent years, decreasing by 15.7% this year, to 151,800 cases," the Prosecutor General's Office noted, shedding light on the current crime situation.

In contrast, the number of fraud cases has significantly increased, rising by 7.2% this year to 148,200 cases. The proportion of fraud in the overall crime structure has also increased from 21.5% to 23.5% compared to the same period last year.

The level of economic crime remained relatively stable from the same period last year, with 45,300 cases recorded this year compared to 45,800 the previous year. Approximately half of these cases were new instances of previously identified criminal activity (20,200 incidents). More than one third (16,200) of these economic crimes involved significant or especially large amounts.

The total estimated damage from all crimes was approximately $2.47 billion (198.7 billion rubles). Of this, $872 million (70.2 billion rubles), or around 35%, was recovered through voluntary repayments and property seizures during the pre-trial phase. Assets worth nearly $831 million (66.9 billion rubles) were also seized.