PrivatBank charged a client a debt of 79,250 hryvnias for a loan he never utilized. The court's ruling on this matter is yet to be revealed.

A man was presented with a debt on a loan amounting to 79,250 hryvnias. However, he refuses to repay the debt because he did not utilize the loan funds. This is stated in the decision of the Lysiansk District Court of Cherkasy region, published on July 30, 2024.

The man approached the joint-stock company commercial bank "PrivatBank" to obtain banking services, during which he signed an application to adhere to the terms and conditions of banking services dated September 17, 2021. He received a payment instrument – a credit card valid until 11/25 of type "Universal", and subsequently also obtained a credit card valid until 01/27 of type "Universal GOLD" and another credit card valid until 01/27 of type "Universal", as confirmed by the account statement. The client utilized the credit limit, returned the amount used from the credit limit, and paid interest for using the credit limit, but he ceased to provide the bank with timely funds for repaying the debt on the loan, interest, and other expenses in accordance with the contract conditions.

Due to the aforementioned violations of obligations under the loan agreement and considering the funds contributed towards repaying the debt, as of March 4, 2024, the man has a debt of 79,250 hryvnias, which consists of the following: 61,992 hryvnias – principal debt; 17,257 hryvnias – overdue interest. Currently, he continues to evade fulfilling his obligation and has not repaid the debt under the contract.

On April 1, 2024, the man filed a response to the lawsuit, stating that he did not use the loan funds. On May 4, 2023, a crime was committed under Part 3 of Article 190 (fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – this is confirmed by the extract from the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations dated May 6, 2023; documents are attached to the response confirming that the funds that JSC CB "PrivatBank" is requesting to return and attempts to recover from him were indeed the subject of a criminal act.

What was the court's decision?

The court denied the claim. The man fulfilled his obligations to PrivatBank, reported the bank about the unauthorized withdrawal of funds from his account, and contacted law enforcement regarding fraudulent actions.

"The defendant indicated that on May 4, 2023, immediately after the fraudulent actions committed by an unidentified person, he called the hotline of JSC CB 'PrivatBank' and reported the fraud concerning his payment instrument. At the same time, the plaintiff did not prove that the defendant disclosed his personal data to third parties. The plaintiff did not prove that the defendant lost and/or facilitated the illegal use of his personal identification number or other information that allows initiating payment transactions. The court agrees with the defendant's arguments that he properly informed the bank about the occurring circumstances and immediately filed a statement with law enforcement, therefore the risk of losses from this transaction lies with the bank. Consequently, the evidence presented above indicates that the defendant did not receive loan funds amounting to 61,992 hryvnias, and they were withdrawn from the defendant's card account through deception by a third party, for which a pre-trial investigation is ongoing," the court emphasized.