Expat Family Cheated by Contractor, Court Win Yields No Money

The story of the Gerdts stands out from typical construction disputes. After moving to Russia from Germany, the family used what seemed at first glance a safe scheme. They began building a house with their own funds and didn«t entrust the entire sum to the contractor. But even this staged payment didn»t protect them from losing nearly a million rubles. How did this happen and why can«t the new homeowners get their money back even after winning a court case? Reporters from 72.RU investigated.

Andrey and Natalia Gerdt spent most of their adult lives in Germany. Their two children were born and raised there. The decision to move to Russia was made soon after the start of the special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine, and it was not spontaneous. The couple realized they no longer shared the principles of the state in which they had lived for decades.

The ethnic Germans chose Tyumen Oblast for their move. The couple themselves were born in Kazakhstan, where Andrey received his education. After moving to Germany, he had his qualifications recognized and worked for many years as a locksmith and milling machine operator. The head of the family earned a living doing the same work in Russia until he broke his leg. His wife is a dance teacher and choreographer; in her new location, she is currently settling in and managing the household.

After looking at a plot in the suburbs, the family decided to build a country house.

— In April 2023, our family began building a house in the settlement. We approached a developer (an individual — Ed.) and signed a contract with him. Later, without our consent, he brought in another man, Valery Opalev, who was supposedly his partner. During construction, we transferred money to him to buy building materials. We never saw those materials. No one returned the money that should have been spent on them, either, — says Andrey Gerdt.

In total, the couple lost more than 800,000 rubles (approximately $8,000 at current rates). After the foundation was poured, Andrey terminated the contract. The man he initially entrusted with building his house returned all the money he had received but not spent for its intended purpose over the following years, but his partner blacklisted the former client and stopped answering calls.

— We realized we had been cheated. We decided to at least get our invested money back and went to court, which ruled in our favor (a copy of the document is with the editorial board). After that, enforcement proceedings were initiated. It was handed over to bailiffs, — asserts Andrey Gerdt.

Court costs were added to the principal debt. All of the debtor«s accounts are now frozen. According to official information provided to the Gerdts, the man only owns an old SUV from 1993. He has no real estate. The bailiffs also seized the car and temporarily banned the debtor from leaving Russia.

— He calmly drives around in a Toyota Land Cruiser. Yes, the car is old, but it«s still worth money. I know he rents expensive houses and lives high on the hog, while we are scratching our heads wondering how we can finish building our house, — complains Andrey.

After losing contact with their debtor, the couple started searching for information about him online. They found out that in 2019, a man with the exact same personal details was convicted of fraud. The materials of that case also involved money. According to the verdict, a namesake of Valery Opalev took money under the pretext of joint business and did not return it.

The editors of 72.RU managed to reach Valery Opalev by phone. During the phone conversation, he said that there is a court decision, he is not challenging it, and according to him, the bailiffs have already started collecting the debt.

— I am paying the bailiffs, but I don«t know how they distribute the money they withhold from me. I have other debts too, I suppose they distribute it somehow, — Valery Opalev stated his position.

According to the Kontur.Focus service, Valery Andreyevich Opalev is an individual entrepreneur engaged in various transportation services. The publicly available information contains no financial reports, but there are records of account seizures and enforcement proceedings totaling 2.9 million rubles (about $29,000 at current rates).

In the information provided to Andrey and Natalia Gerdt by the bailiffs, all enforcement proceedings against the debtor have now been consolidated into one totaling 1,984,913 rubles (about $19,900 at current rates).

— We have been desperately trying to fight this injustice for several years. We wrote to the prosecutor«s office, but that didn»t help recover the money, so we decided to reach out to the editorial board to draw attention to our story and warn others, — Andrey Gerdt explains his position.

In the near future, the head of the family plans to contact the bailiffs again to find out how they are handling his debtor. Andrey Gerdt claims that since the court decision came into force, he has not received a single kopeck from the department.

Lawyers acknowledge that anyone deciding to acquire a suburban home can fall into such a trap. There is no 100% guarantee of protecting the interests of future homeowners in the individual housing construction (IHC) sector today. The only advice experts give is not to pay the entire amount upfront, but to settle strictly in stages, based on work completed. In that case, the client risks losing only a small part of their savings.

It was exactly this scheme that the Gerdts followed, but even that didn«t save them. According to experts, when bailiffs start working, it often turns out there is nothing to take from the debtor. As a result, he pays off the debt in kopecks over years, and it is practically impossible to punish him more severely under the law. If it involves an unscrupulous contractor with the status of a legal entity, lawyers recommend trying to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against him.

— In this case, the founders can be held subsidiarily liable, so that the debts are paid off through the sale of their personal property. This method exists, but the bankruptcy process itself is quite lengthy and will require additional expenses from the affected clients, — explained Arthur Abamelikov, a lawyer, to 72.RU.