“Supreme Court to Review Case on Unjust Enrichment Recovery from DIA as Bankruptcy Trustee of Bank” — Vitaly Karpenko for PRObankrotstvo
The Economic Collegium of the Supreme Court will determine whether funds received by an insolvent bank's account constitute the Deposit Insurance Agency's (DIA) own funds.
LLC "INFP" leased commercial premises from TC "Sphere". Ownership of the premises was later transferred to "Zapadny" Bank and subsequently to LLC "Amadeus". The tenant paid March 2023 rent to "Zapadny" Bank but claimed that from March 22-31, 2023, the owner was LLC "Amadeus". It then filed a lawsuit to recover unjust enrichment from the Deposit Insurance Agency (the bankruptcy trustee of "Zapadny" Bank). Courts of three instances ruled in favor of recovering unjust enrichment from DIA, which appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing it wasn't the proper defendant as the funds were deposited into the bank's account and became part of the bankruptcy estate. Supreme Court Judge I.V. Razumov referred the case to the Economic Collegium (Case No. A40-205606/2023).
Why This Matters
According to Vitaly Karpenko, Attorney and Project Manager at Prime Advice Law Offices, the Supreme Court will likely side with DIA in this dispute.
He noted that Article 189.88(2) of the Bankruptcy Law supports DIA's position: when DIA acts as bankruptcy trustee, the credit organization's accounts during liquidation proceedings are opened with the Agency itself. All funds received during liquidation are deposited into these accounts, which effectively precludes their classification as DIA's own funds. Therefore, money received by an insolvent bank's account should be considered part of the bankruptcy estate rather than DIA's property. Consequently, the court will likely find that unjust enrichment occurred with the debtor directly, not with DIA as bankruptcy trustee, he noted.