Fun

Russian Court: Bitcoin Theft Not a Crime

News Feed - 2020-07-03 08:07:37

Russian Court: Bitcoin Theft Not a Crime


A Russian district court has dismissed bitcoin theft as a crime since cryptocurrency is not regulated in Russia and there is no legal status for bitcoin.The accused were found guilty, sentenced to prison, and ordered to return only the fiat money stolen — not cryptocurrencies.


St. Petersburg’s Petrogradsky District Court has announced the verdict in a theft case involving bitcoin filed in December, the joint press service of the judicial system of St. Petersburg announced on Tuesday.


The two accused, Peter Piron and Yevgeny Prigozhin, disguised as officers of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) in 2018, forced the plaintiff to transfer cash and cryptocurrencies to them. Under the threat of torture, the cryptocurrency owner transferred five million rubles and cryptocurrencies, including 99.7035 bitcoins. The BTC was worth more than 48 million rubles ($680,640) based on the exchange rate on June 3, 2018, the court announcement details. Currently, this amount of BTC is worth about $908,024. The other cryptocurrencies amounted to approximately 7 million rubles, bringing the total loss suffered by the plaintiff to more than 60 million rubles.


The victim sought the return of all properties stolen. The court admitted that cryptocurrencies were transferred to the accused under threat. However, citing information from the central bank, the Bank of Russia, and the criminal code, the court concluded:Cryptocurrency [theft] 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 does not fall into any category and is not a recognized means of payment in the territory of the Russian Federation. The legislator has assigned it to surrogates of funds,” the court added.




Prigozhin was sentenced to eight years and Prion 10 years in a maximum-security prison. They have also been ordered to return the five million rubles, but the cryptocurrencies worth 55 million rubles at the time of the theft were excluded from the verdict.


Russia still has no cryptocurrency regulation even though a bill on digital financial assets was submitted to the State Duma back in March 2018. Recently, a bill was proposed to outlaw cryptocurrencies with a jail term, but several ministries do not support this bill.


What do you think about this Russian court’s decision regarding crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.Despite Covid-19 Negativity, Crypto Prediction Markets Say Trump Wins the 2020 ElectionNEWS | 3 hours agoInvestment Firm Arcane Crypto to Go Public via $33 Million Reverse MergerNEWS | 6 hours agoTags in this storybitcoin theft, court case, Russia bitcoin, russia crypto, russian court bitcoin, russian court cryptocurrency, Stolen Bitcoin


Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki CommonsUse Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to play online casino games here.Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.Read disclaimer Show comments

News Feed

Buenos Aires to Tax Cryptocurrency Mining in 2023
Buenos Aires to Tax Cryptocurrency Mining in 2023 The province of Buenos Aires in Argentina will begin taxing cryptocurrency mining and possibly staking, in 2023. A new proposal mo
The Legends of Bezogia Blockchain NFT Rental MMO Game Takes Gaming Industry by Storm
The Legends of Bezogia Blockchain NFT Rental MMO Game Takes Gaming Industry by Storm sponsored The Legends of Bezogia, the land where everything always goes up, is a massive open-wo
Ether ETFs may be delayed, as institutions are unprepared — Web3 exec
Zoltan Vardai12 hours agoEther ETFs may be delayed, as institutions are unprepared — Web3 execHowever, while spot Ether ETF applications could see further delays, approval is just a matter of time, according to the CEO
Bitcoin’s Hashrate Taps New Lifetime High, BTC Price 20% Above Production Cost, Difficulty Nears ATH
Bitcoin"s Hashrate Taps New Lifetime High, BTC Price 20% Above Production Cost, Difficulty Nears ATH Bitcoin’s hashrate has been riding high again as the processing power ta
SLP Token Market Cap Surpasses $50 Million
SLP Token Market Cap Surpasses $50 Million For over a year now, the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) token universe has grown quite vast. There are now more than 6,000 SLP tokens in
ModiHost’s Token Is Live on HitBTC, the Leading European Bitcoin Exchange
ModiHost"s Token Is Live on HitBTC, the Leading European Bitcoin ExchangeSwitzerland, July 9th 2020 – ModiHost, a hotel management system that uses artificial intelligence to
Sam Altman thinks giving everyone ‘a slice of GPT’ could pay for UBI
Tristan Greene4 hours agoSam Altman thinks giving everyone ‘a slice of GPT’ could pay for UBIHe also reiterated his call for an international safety agency to protect against existential threats related to AI.2320 To
Binance Discontinues Crypto Products and Services in South Korea
Binance Discontinues Crypto Products and Services in South Korea On August 13, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance revealed it is ending a great number of servic
The Ongoing Effort to Free Ross — Ulbricht’s Clemency Petition Closes in on Half a Million Signatures
The Ongoing Effort to Free Ross — Ulbricht"s Clemency Petition Closes in on Half a Million Signatures As the end of 2021 nears, Ross Ulbricht remains in prison as he continues to
Queen Maxima of Netherlands Sees Multiple Benefits of Digital Euro
Queen Maxima of Netherlands Sees Multiple Benefits of Digital Euro Queen Maxima of the Netherlands has outlined multiple benefits central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could brin
Hydro-Québec Looks to Suspend Power Distribution to Crypto Miners in Bid to Save Capacity
Hydro-Québec Looks to Suspend Power Distribution to Crypto Miners in Bid to Save Capacity According to a Hydro-Québec newsroom report, the company has asked the electricity trans
Bitcoin’s Defense of Major Support May Fuel Price Bounce to $9,600
View Bitcoin’s repeated defense of the 200-day average support indicates an end of the pullback from $10,350 and scope for a bounce to the 100-day average at $9,601. A UTC close above that level and a further rise