In St. Petersburg, the court recognized that cryptocurrency can be stolen

The Prosecutor’s Office of St. Petersburg achieved the recognition of cryptocurrency as the subject of theft two years after the crime. It is reported by the agency Interfax with reference to the press service of the prosecutor’s office of the city. Earlier, the judge argued that from the point of view of the law, cryptocurrency cannot be the subject of theft, because it is not a means of payment in Russia.

According to the case materials, the attackers introduced themselves as FSB officers and extorted money from the victim, threatening criminal liability for the alleged theft of money. They seized 5 million rubles from him and demanded to transfer cryptocurrency worth more than 55 million rubles. The case materials say that the criminals beat the victim, threatened him with torture and the introduction of psychotropic drugs.

In July of the same year, the Petrograd District Court issued a verdict in this case. The defendants received 12 years under Part 3 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for robbery. However, the cryptocurrency was not included in the list of stolen assets.

The court explained that cryptocurrency is not a means of payment on the territory of Russia and, accordingly, cannot be the object of a crime. However, the prosecutor’s office appealed the decision.

“The court of cassation agreed with the arguments of the prosecutor’s office of St. Petersburg that the digital currency could be accepted as a means of payment, sold and converted into rubles, which were illegally seized by the defendants in the criminal case,” the press service said.

In a new consideration of the case, the Petrograd District Court recognized the cryptocurrency as the subject of theft and included it in the verdict. However, this decision did not affect the article under which the offenders were convicted, and the term of punishment.

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