The Supreme Court of Russia has ordered a retrial in a case concerning illicit enrichment through cryptocurrency, citing an unfounded decision by the appellate court. This was reported by RAPSI.
According to the case details, the plaintiff lent the defendant 313,008 USDT with interest, but the defendant failed to repay. The plaintiff alleged unjust enrichment and demanded the return of the cryptocurrency.
As evidence, the plaintiff submitted a notarized protocol of an inspection of his mobile phone, which had the Trust Wallet app installed, along with a WhatsApp conversation. In the conversation, a contact bearing the defendant’s name confirmed receipt of the full amount of cryptocurrency.
However, the defendant claimed that the electronic wallet receiving the funds was not his and that he was unaware of the identity of the person the plaintiff was communicating with in the messenger.
The trial court dismissed the claims, ruling that the plaintiff failed to prove the defendant’s unjust enrichment.
The appellate court overturned this decision, concluding that the plaintiff had indeed transferred cryptocurrency to the defendant, who failed to provide evidence of lawful receipt. The court ordered the defendant to repay the amount as it was received outside of a contractual agreement. The cassation court upheld this decision.
The Supreme Court noted that during the appeal, the existence of contractual relations between the parties, their content, and other legally significant circumstances were not examined, contrary to legal norms. The court indicated that the norms applied regarding unjust enrichment are subsidiary to those concerning the relevant contract, the judicial panel pointed out.
“Furthermore, the appellate ruling contains no conclusions regarding how the ownership of the cryptocurrency wallet, to which the cryptocurrency was transferred, was established,” noted the Supreme Court of Russia.
The appellate court’s decision was deemed unlawful and unfounded, and the case has been returned to this court for reconsideration.
In June 2023, the Russian Supreme Court recognized the conversion of bitcoins into rubles as money laundering.