Russian media reported that the City Court of St. Petersburg accepted a substantial amount of cryptocurrency, which was handed in by a victim to an extortion case, as a payment method. The prosecutor’s office in Russia’s second-largest city describes the ruling as a precedent.
Russian Cryptocurrency Extortion: Two Men Convicted
For extorting $5 million in cash, and close to $1,000,000 in digital assets (nearly $90,000.00) from another person, two Russian citizens were sentenced for nine- and seven year imprisonments.
The St. Petersburg City Court recognized cryptocurrency as a payment method during the trial, according to the RBC crypto page. As the Russian government is still to establish the legal status and rights of Bitcoin, the Prosecutors view the ruling as a significant first.
Pyotr Pion, one of these perpetrators introduced himself as G.A. to Shemet four years ago. Shemet is an officer of the Federal Security Service. The article details how he threatened Shemet to bring criminal charges against him for extorting money in fiat or cryptocurrency.
Shemet refused to believe Piron was a security agent and declined to provide the funds. Therefore, Yevgeny Prigozhin became a accomplice.
Shemet was told by both that they would launch a criminal probe against Shemet over alleged illegal cryptocurrency circulation. They staged an impersonation arrest for the crypto owner in the summer 2018. He was threatened with torture and handed over his fiat money as well as his crypto stash.
The city court’s initial decision did not take into account the misappropriated crypto. It stated in the verdict that cryptocurrency “is not a means of payment on the territory of the Russian Federation, therefore it cannot be recognized as an object of civil rights and a subject of a crime.”
After an appeal, the cassation judge ruled that crypto can still be considered as a payment method and returned the case back to the court in first instance. The city court issued an updated verdict adding digital cash to the original sentence.
This development follows last month’s decision by a St. Petersburg district court to allow law enforcement officers to seize stolen cryptocurrency from another criminal case. Two dozen cryptocurrency wallets belonging to a suspect were sought by investigators. The suspect was believed to be holding 1,000,000 rubles (ETH) in ethereum.
Are you expecting to see more cryptocurrency cases in Russian courts? Please leave your comments below.
Image creditShutterstock. Pixabay. Wiki Commons
DisclaimerThis article serves informational purposes. It does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation of any company, products or services. Bitcoin.com is not a provider of investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage caused or alleged caused by the content or use of any goods, services, or information mentioned in the article.
