Topic: Russian Court: Theft Of 100 BTC Isn’t A Crime Because Bitcoin Isn’t Property (Read 416 times)

Sometimes, human legalities are devoid of common sense.

I've read this news a few days ago and the recent Chinese case which is somehow similar to this one came to mind. There was a legal battle over whether or not Bitcoin is an asset under the Chinese law. If it is, then it is protected by law. If it isn't, then all hell breaks loose.

The only difference is that the Chinese case ended up in favor of Bitcoin as an asset while this one does not seem to favor Bitcoin as a property.

My point, however, is simply that if something owned by someone is stolen or robbed by another then, by all means, it is illegal and should therefore be returned to its owner, regardless if that particular thing is legally classified as an asset or not.

According to Roman classical law, which is also used in Russia in order to have ownership of any thing, a person must have the right to own (the presence of this thing), the right to use (the ability to derive any benefit from it) and the right to dispose (sell, exchange, give and so on). The victims had these rights before the theft of bitcoins. Bitcoins have a certain material value. Theft in Russia is recognized as the secret theft of another's property. I see no reason to refuse the claim to the victims. This is contrived by the court.

Subsequent developments in the case involving two men impersonating the Federal Security Services (FSBs) have paid off. In particular, on June 30, the Russian criminal court rejected the claim for victims with the argument that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do not inherit the same protection as other types of assets.

The case began in 2018 when two men impersonating Federal Security Service (FSB) employees and their accomplices kidnapped the victim and forced him to give them 5 million rubles or $ 90,000 in cash and 99.7 BTC – worth about $ 900,000 at the time. The kidnappers were sentenced to eight and ten years in prison.

After that, the lawsuit went on and on because the victims demanded compensation and forced the scammers to pay back the money they stole. The court still ruled in favor of the victim, insisting the criminals had to repay 5 million rubles. However, when it comes to cryptocurrencies, the court declared that they could not respond to the claim, as Bitcoin was not legally recognized by Russian law.

Therefore, it seems that this incident is outside their jurisdiction.

Even so, victims can still try their luck in civil court. Regardless of any future legal proceedings, this court’s decision is remarkable – in essence, it claims that Bitcoin theft is not a crime.

Source: The Russian Criminal Court Rejected The 99.7 BTC Claim From The Victims Because Bitcoin Was Not Recognized As Legal Tender

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Source: The Russian Criminal Court Rejected The 99.7 BTC Claim From The Victims Because Bitcoin Was Not Recognized As Legal Tender

The continuous tug of war for legality of bitcoin is very taxing for its citizen, this wavering support is giving the people a reluctant hope. The strict laws wouldn't be a thing if the legitimacy of cryptocurrency is still questionable. This is just a few cases that will be a predecessor to more albeit similar cases.

Well, Russia is one of the countries where-in the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not welcomed like the blockchain. The country wants to hit harder on cryptocurrencies and its activities by imposing strict laws and taxes. Although, the crypto geeks in Russia regardless of the laws proposed tend to carry out trade persistently.

i think he was implying that yobit's infrastructure is out of reach of the russian authorities, which is probably true. BTC-E structured themselves the same way.

as the WEX case showed, the russian police could just $5 wrench attack the admins---if they are in russia.

however, the arrest of pavel krymov (alleged yobit founder) 2 years ago in moscow appears to have accomplished nothing as far as yobit's operations go.

Yeah, just like BTC-e was out of reach from the US...Not! Remember Mega?

Can you point to anywhere that mentions that?

The scam of scams is officially registered in Moscow, Russia. It is impossible to find more details about the business niche they are involved in, but one is sure just few months ago Russia policy was harsh to crypto currencies. The other fact that even BTC-E exchange is registered in Bulgaria tell us enough.

The main yobit server is located in San Francisco where the HashOcean phantom office was too. Yobit.net has a reserve domain registred somewhere in Panama (The prosperous land for ponzi schemes).

Their servers and domains are based in the US and Panama so even though they're still subject to Russian law, the website itself is out of reach for them so they can't really seize it or anything.

Their servers and domains are based in the US and Panama so even though they're still subject to Russian law, the website itself is out of reach for them so they can't really seize it or anything.

Roughly, with a strong catch-up word, they began to threaten the cryptocurrency miner that they would take him to Shpalernaya Street, where they would torture him and torture him, beat him and inject chemicals into the body that affect the nervous system. The man did not check whether intruders would fulfill their threats or not. He took 5 million rubles from a cache in the kitchen and handed them to Piron. And also from the cryptocurrency electronic wallet he transferred bitcoins to him.

Their servers and domains are based in the US and Panama so even though they're still subject to Russian law, the website itself is out of reach for them so they can't really seize it or anything.

I'm sure there are Russian owned and operated exchanges. If they're sensible they would not be running them in Russia. Then again this might act as a wonderful incentive to bring some 'business' home.

Yobit is an eternal mystery. They've probably leased a secret Mir and hide in space.

It may be a regional court and this was a one off decision. If I were the victim I'd be looking for a definitive answer from the highest court I could get heard in.

Yobit? Yeah i know... i avoid it at all costs, but surely there are even more sketchy ones in there. No wonder they aren't interested in KYC or anything like that.

Are there any exchanges in Russia at all?
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So, does this mean that all bitcoin/crypto exchanges in Russia can now just exit scam and steal all bitcoins without having any legal ramifications?

Isn't that what many do already anyway? Russia has to be one of the world capitals of online theft and general mischief. And it's not as if they would ever extradite anyone under any circumstances for anything.

The source seems to be a Telegram post?
https://t.me/SPbGS/5607

Joint Press Service of the courts of St. Petersburg
The Petrograd District Court of St. Petersburg announced the verdict against Peter Piron, found guilty of committing crimes under subsection b of part 2 of article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part 2 of article 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, convicted of the commission of a crime under subsection b of part 3 of article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

According to the plot of the charge (we reported on the receipt of the case - https://t.me/SPbGS/3970), the defendants managed to get money in the amount of 5,000,000 rubles, as well as cryptocurrency in the form of 99.7035 bitcoins, the value of which as of June 3, 2018 amounted to 48 101 130 rubles 87 kopecks, in the form of 2072150.73446889 digibytes, the value of which as of June 3, 2018 was 4 083 999 rubles 19 kopecks, in the form of 198700.17928287 bit-rates, whose value as of June 3, 2018 was 3 012 711 rubles 76 kopecks, and a total of 55 197 841 rubles 82 kopecks. In total, they managed to seize property for a total of 60 197 841 rubles 82 kopecks.

Prigogine initially pleaded not guilty, explaining that Sh. And K. had been slandering him in order to assist the investigating authorities in solving a particularly serious crime. After watching the video in the court session, Prigozhin, referring to forgetfulness, said that he pleads guilty as part of his legal position. Assuming that his actions are subject to qualifications under Art. 330 of the Criminal Code

Piron admitted guilt, but explained that he did not recognize the amount of damage, believing that he personally caused the victim only 850,000 rubles of damage, did not commit this crime by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, did not use violence against Sh. The rest of Piron took advantage of Art. 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The court, in this particular case, based on the amount of the charge, found that the victim transferred the cryptocurrency he had to electronic wallets under the influence of threats associated with the requirement to transfer this payment instrument. From the information of the Bank of Russia it follows that there is no collateral and entities legally obligated for them in virtual currencies. Taking into account the provisions of Article 209 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Article 128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, cryptocurrency is not a crime against property, due to the lack of legal status it is not possible to recognize it as an object of civil law, this type of virtual money is not falls into any of the categories, is not a recognized means of payment on the territory of the Russian Federation, the legislator is assigned to surrogates of funds. In such circumstances, the court excluded the possession of cryptocurrency in the amount of 55 197 841 rubles 82 kopecks from the scope of the charge.

The court sentenced:
Prigogine in the form of 8 years of imprisonment in a maximum security prison.
Piron in the form of 10 years of imprisonment in high security IR

The claim of the victim is partially satisfied in the amount of 5,000,000 rubles. In the rest of the claim, it was left without consideration, and Sh. Recognized the right to satisfy the claim in the framework of civil proceedings.
Telegram
Joint Press Service of the courts of St. Petersburg
The Petrograd District Court of St. Petersburg has registered a criminal case against Peter Piron accused of committing crimes under subsection b of part 2 of article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part 2 of article 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and Yevgeny Prigozhin accused of committing crimes ...

The source seems to be a Telegram post?
https://t.me/SPbGS/5607

I find this pretty weird. There are tons of things with value with no legal status other than being property and that should be enough no matter what legal system it is, not that Russia really has one any more.

According to the revision, along with money, securities, and other property, the illegal provision of property-related services and property rights can now be considered part of a bribery offence. “In cases where the subject of the bribe is property rights, an official has the opportunity to receive income from the use of uncertified securities or digital rights,” the clarification details.

If a corruption case under investigation involves the transfer of digital rights, their value has to be estimated by experts employed to conduct a monetary assessment, the court remarks. Its decree also explains that the transfer of such assets to an “electronic wallet” is to be considered as the exact moment of the bribe that has been paid.

If I have a sculpture made out of celebrity eyelashes stolen then I would expect that to be prosecuted despite it being a whole lot more obscure, completely unregulated and hard to value.

There are countless places where the value can be checked and countless places where it can bought and sold. It's no more or less tangible than any other piece of electronic value like a stock or a bank account balance.

I'll guess the judge was probably drunk. Or not even present.

How about every Russian starts stealing iTunes gift card codes or bank card numbers and then cite case law to claim that it wasn't theft?

I see it more like a "if legally we don't know what it is and what's its value, it's not considered property (hence there's no theft)".

Regardless of any future legal proceedings, this court’s decision is remarkable – in essence, it claims that Bitcoin theft is not a crime.

It depends on how you steal them, because the criminals in this case are still convicted because the robbery involved a kidnapping - but if they had done it in a slightly more sophisticated way, then nothing would have happened to them. If they endure their prison days, when they get out of prison, real wealth awaits them - unless they themselves become victims of theft. I am sure that the Russian mafia will not let them just go under the radar.

So if they would have just taken the 100BTC it wouldn't have been a crime at all?