Moscow court to hear suit over 16.6 BTC misappropriation

In Moscow’s Savelovsky Court, a suit for the return of cryptocurrency from unlawful possession will be heard.

According to RIA Novosti, lawyer Boris Bashilov said that in the summer of 2018 the plaintiff transferred 16.6 BTC to a cryptocurrency wallet belonging to an acquaintance, under a trust-management arrangement.

The latter was to invest the funds within five months and return them to the owner, taking 20% of the profits.

But later he claimed that he had lost the cryptocurrency and did not return it. The owner of the Bitcoins sent a pre-litigation claim, and then filed the court suit.

At the time the suit was drafted, Bitcoin’s value was estimated at nearly 45 million rubles.

According to the lawyer, in 2018 there was no applicable legislation to regulate such disputes, but with the adoption of the law “On Digital Financial Assets” such suits can now be heard in court:

“Before January 2021 there were a number of cases, but due to the absence of regulation in satisfying the claims they were denied.”

The Law “On Digital Financial Assets” took effect on January 1, 2021. Under it, cryptocurrencies are recognised as property.

According to the suit, pre-trial preparation has already been conducted; a hearing on the merits has been scheduled for early June, confirmed by the Savelovsky Court.

Bashilov added that the case could set a precedent. He said that since the law was enacted there have been no similar cases.

Some lawyers note that cryptocurrency has already been the subject of several lawsuits heard by courts in Russia.

“Of course, before cryptocurrencies gained the regulatory framework they have now, most cases ended in a denial of the claim. But there were exceptions,” said ForkLog lawyer and lecturer at Moscow Digital School Roman Yankovsky.

In 2018, the Moscow court ordered bankrupt entrepreneur Ilya Tsarykov to hand over access to the cryptocurrency wallet to the bankruptcy trustee to replenish the bankruptcy estate.

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