Court cancels apartment deal after seller claims fraud

38-year-old Tula resident Daniil Volchkov fell victim to the «Dolina effect» (a legal precedent from a case involving singer Larisa Dolina), even though he purchased the apartment in September 2024. Moreover, his case has one nuance. The seller was deceived by fraudsters before the deal was completed. The owner did not give the money for the apartment to the scammers. And she proceeded with the sale only after realizing she had been caught. But this did not prevent the woman from going to court, and the court ruled in her favor.

The editorial office of 71.RU spoke with Daniil to find out the details of a very strange case in which the court ordered the apartment returned to the seller solely due to «established practice».

«She Found Me Herself»

In September 2024, Daniil decided to buy a home in Tula for his daughter. The man himself works at a furniture manufacturing company, has an average income, so he was looking for a relatively inexpensive apartment. For this, he contacted a realtor and placed an ad himself, explaining what kind of housing he was seeking.

A bit later, 70-year-old Olga contacted him, ready to sell her apartment.

«I was in Moscow on business when she called me. We talked, I contacted my realtor and sent him to inspect the apartment. He later sent me photos, named the price — 1.6 million rubles (about $16,000 at current rates). I had that amount, so I agreed. The seller thought about it for about five days, and then we started preparing the deal,» Daniil recounts.

According to Daniil, he wasn«t in a hurry with the deal. Olga was also satisfied with the timing and price. He asked her about the reason for the sale.

«She said she had another apartment, that the neighbors were flooding this one, and, in general, she didn»t want to live here. She claimed that she had a son or daughter in Belgium who could take her in. It was a very coherent story. Another apartment, as the neighbors say, she really does have. It seems to have come from her mother, but is registered under someone else«s name. Now, however, she claims she has no other apartment,» Daniil noted.

«If You Show Up in This Apartment, You»ll Be Killed«

When they agreed on the deal, it was decided to conduct it through a bank letter of credit. This was Daniil«s condition — to minimize risks.

«On 26 September we met, opened the letter of credit, deposited the money. Then we signed the sales contract. Before this, Olga deregistered from the apartment, paid off her utility debts. According to the letter of credit, she was supposed to receive the money a week after signing the contract, so in October. But around 28–29 September, my realtor started getting calls, saying, if you show up in this apartment, you»ll be killed! And these were genuine threats, not just jokes,« Daniil recounts.

On 30 September, the man went to the police with his realtor, thinking that fraudsters were trying to deceive them. At the police station, Daniil met Olga and her relatives.

«It turned out that on 27 September, the grandmother had been scammed out of 660,000 rubles (about $6,600), and she came to file a report. Her relatives for some reason thought we were the fraudsters, but we discussed everything at the station, clarified things. We came to the police to also file a fraud report, after that call. But at the station they told us, why? You can see for yourself, it»s just such a situation,« Daniil explained.

At the police, it was clarified that the grandmother had given the fraudsters her own money; the letter of credit for 1.6 million rubles (about $16,000) at the bank was intact. And the property itself was still under Olga«s name.

But after what happened, the woman did not stop the deal. On the contrary, she only asked for two weeks to move out. After that period, Daniil received the keys to the apartment, and the woman — the money.

And in January 2025, the man learned that a third court hearing was already underway regarding his apartment.

By the way, the investigation into Olga«s report has not progressed — since there are no correspondences or any other evidence. And it»s also unclear where to look for these fraudsters.

«The Lawyer Was So Surprised to See Me in Court»

To reiterate, Daniil learned in January 2025 that a court case was underway regarding his apartment, while the lawsuit had been filed back in December. Two full court hearings had already passed. Only thanks to the Gosuslugi (Government Services) website did he learn about the third one and attended it.

«Before this, no one from that side even called me, didn»t say, let«s discuss this issue somehow. Just a lawsuit, and that»s it. I came to the third hearing, and the lawyer from the other side was so surprised by my presence as if I shouldn«t have known anything at all,» Daniil recounted.

According to him, it«s not difficult to ensure that notification of a hearing or lawsuit doesn»t arrive. Since they come by mail, it«s enough to make just a couple of mistakes in the postal code or surname, so the postman simply doesn»t know who to deliver the notice to.

When Daniil came to the third court hearing, he learned that, according to the lawsuit, he was allegedly somehow connected with the fraudsters. And by the way, there wasn«t a word about him getting the money back for the sold apartment. On the contrary, the plaintiff demanded that he also pay for the court-ordered examination.

«The initial lawsuit from their side was drafted such that the fraudsters allegedly gave her my number, so she went to sell the apartment specifically to me. But we provided evidence of how everything happened, from what moment our communication began. Moreover, if I were a fraudster, I would have been in police custody long ago — but I»m not even a witness there.

We saw Olga herself in court only once. And even then, when the judge called her up and started questioning her, Olga stated that she had essentially deceived me — saying that some voices on the phone taught her to talk like that. After that, she didn«t appear in court again; only the lawyer was there.

At the same time, no evidence that she even communicated with fraudsters was provided. Olga stated that she deleted everything because «it was unpleasant for her to have that correspondence on her phone.»

They conducted the court-ordered examination in one day — and considered the woman«s condition at the moment of signing the contract, 26 September. That is, »could she« or »couldn«t she» have been out of her mind, but, folks — by law, a person is either capable or not. Either under influence or not. What does the wording «could have» mean. And how you passed a court-ordered examination at the Serbsky Center in one day is also a good question.

Several court hearings passed. By the end, I was hearing the surname Dolina — more often than my own. That lawyer, citing the singer«s case, explained why the apartment needs to be returned!» Daniil recounts.

According to him, at some point even the judge directly asked the plaintiff: why did you continue the deal if at that time you had been scammed by fraudsters and there was a corresponding police report? After all, it turns out you had the will to conclude the deal? No coherent answer followed.

However, in the end, the court ruled to cancel: return the apartment to Olga, the money — to Daniil. The court justified the decision with «established practice».

Be a Man, Give It All Up!

At the end of the summer, Daniil«s lawyer, Yulia Dubinina, published a post on social media about the court process. The note attracted public attention. Then, Channel Five did a story on Daniil»s case. Journalists came with the man to the house of Olga«s relatives, where the old woman was supposed to be living at that time. There, Daniil was met by Olga»s niece and her husband. It must be said, the reception was far from hospitable. Moreover, the niece«s husband stated that no one would return any money to Daniil — after all, they had been living on it for the past year.

Speaking of Olga«s niece and her spouse. According to Daniil, they along with the lawyer were the main participants in the process on the plaintiff»s side. As it turned out, they were the ones who called Daniil«s realtor with threats. During the court, these people persistently reminded that they were »not the simplest folks«. Daniil noted that the niece boasted about working in the government of Tula Region, and her husband — a military man, a commander in one of the local units. He, according to the wife, »went through three wars, shed blood for the country«, so how dare you ask for anything back?

Olga«s lawyer»s position on this issue is also very strange, according to Daniil; in one of the phone calls, the woman stated: «Be a man, leave her both the apartment and the money!»

In addition to returning the apartment, Olga wants Daniil to also compensate her for the cost of the court-ordered examination — 70,000 rubles (about $700) and lawyer«s services — 400,000 rubles (about $4,000). That is, the final losses for the Tula man, even if the cassation court upholds the decision, will amount to more than two million rubles (over $20,000).

After all, his 1.6 million rubles (about $16,000) spent on the apartment, he is unlikely to ever see again, despite the court«s decision: the plaintiff»s side directly stated that they would pay 3,000 rubles (about $30) per month from the pension.

It won«t be possible to contact Olga herself or her lawyer. They don»t take calls from unknown numbers. But we are ready to hear their version of events if they contact the editorial office.

«Sooner or Later, a Raskolnikov Will Appear»

There are thousands of cases similar to what happened to Daniil across the country. He himself is a member of one of the victims« groups — currently there are 200 people there. Though just two months ago there were only 60.

«The question of whether a new Raskolnikov (a reference to the desperate protagonist of Dostoevsky»s «Crime and Punishment») will appear or not runs like a «red line» through all our discussions. Because you can«t take away people»s last things. For example, there«s a man from Ufa who sold three apartments and took out a huge mortgage to move to Moscow. And now he»s crammed with his family in a rented apartment with a mortgage payment of 400,000 rubles (about $4,000). Or there«s a woman whose husband and son went missing in action during the special military operation. They were all deceived under this scheme. And if you think about it, sooner or later a person will appear who, having lost everything this way, will do something terrible,» Daniil believes.

Daniil did file a police report against Olga, accusing her of large-scale fraud. Currently, the Privokzalny police department is conducting a check on it.

According to Daniil, he was still lucky, because he decided to postpone the renovation in the apartment, which he planned to start immediately after the purchase.

«I can give several pieces of advice that we discussed with my lawyer. If the court of first instance ruled in favor of the seller, try to drag out the time as much as possible. In cassation courts, practice is gradually shaping up in favor of buyers, but you have to wait a long time. Especially now we are counting on the Supreme Court, which is supposed to make a decision on 16 December. Either the secondary housing market will die, or the law will side with honest buyers,» Daniil believes.

In cassation across the country, there are already 10 decisions to leave the apartment with the buyer. It«s not much, but it»s something.

At the same time, Daniil emphasizes: one cannot deny that someone might genuinely be deceived by fraudsters. But the problem with abusing the «Dolina effect» is becoming clearer every day.