PrivatBank refuses to return stolen funds to a Kyiv resident - the court's decision has been made.

A woman lost 4,426 hryvnias from her accounts at PrivatBank. She is demanding that the financial institution return her funds, as she did not initiate the withdrawals. This is stated in the decision of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, published on September 12, 2024.

On October 9, 2022, the woman received a call from an unknown number, which she rejected. Shortly after, she began receiving various messages regarding service registrations: "Installment payment." Within a minute, amounts were deducted from her cards through several transfers. Before her payment cards were blocked, 11 transactions occurred, resulting in a total loss of 4,426 hryvnias. The citizen promptly filed a report with the police regarding the illegal actions taken by an unknown individual against her card accounts. Information about the criminal offense was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, and she was recognized as a victim.

The woman approached the branch of JSC CB "PrivatBank" demanding the return of her stolen funds. The bank did not provide a reasoned decision regarding this incident and refused to return the illegally deducted funds. No agreement was reached with JSC CB "PrivatBank" on how to resolve the credit debt arising from fraudulent actions with payment (credit) cards. A representative of JSC CB "PrivatBank" submitted a request to the court to consider the case in the absence of their representative, while simultaneously asking to dismiss the claim.

What was the court's decision?

The court granted the woman's claim. The joint-stock company commercial bank "PrivatBank" is ordered to pay her 4,426 hryvnias.

"The court concluded that the respondent did not provide proper, admissible, and sufficient evidence of the fact and circumstances that undoubtedly prove that the plaintiff contributed to the loss or illegal use of the PIN code or other information that allows initiating payment operations through the banking system by her actions or inactions. In turn, she took all necessary actions that fall within the responsibilities of a bank client when faced with the situation of unjustified deductions from her account, specifically: she immediately called the hotline of JSC CB ‘PrivatBank’ and reported the unauthorized actions on her card, and filed a report with law enforcement regarding the fraudulent actions against her card account. In this regard, there are no grounds for imposing civil liability on the plaintiff. Considering the above, the court concluded that the plaintiff's claims should be granted on the aforementioned grounds," the court emphasized.