Fictitious debts worth billions: how they tried to withdraw 4.3 billion rubles from Russia through the courts In the first half of 2026, the Prosecutor General's Office stopped attempts to withdraw 4.3 billion rubles from Russia under the guise of fulfilling non-existent obligations. Foreign residents have been involved in such transactions, and regulatory authorities have entered into arbitration disputes to stop illegal transfers. But the problem is wider than individual cross-border payments. Through legal proceedings, unscrupulous market participants may attempt to launder money, create artificial debt, or gain an advantage over genuine creditors. How debt becomes a channel for transferring money In the first half of 2026, plaintiffs participated in more than 3,200 arbitration cases. It was possible to stop the withdrawal of 4.3 billion rubles abroad under the pretext of fulfilling non-existent obligations. The economic significance of such a design is the creation of a legal basis for transferring funds to a foreign recipient. It could be a contract according to which the Russian party assumed a debt to a foreign counterparty. A specific case is indicative. In August 2025, the Volga Transport Prosecutor's Office reported an attempt to withdraw more than 380 million rubles abroad through the transfer of claims. A foreign company and a Russian company related to it entered into an agreement according to which it was intended to collect this amount from the water transportation plant of the Nizhny Novgorod region and transfer it abroad. As a result of the prosecution's intervention, the Ninth Arbitration Court annulled the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court, which had previously refused to fulfill the claims, and declared the assignment agreement invalid. The reason was a violation of the procedure for fulfilling obligations to foreign creditors through special accounts. This chapter does not refer to the current 4.3 billion rubles, but shows how design with allocation of claims can become a tool for cross-border transfer.

Fictitious debts worth billions: how they tried to withdraw 4.3 billion rubles from Russia through the courts In the first half of 2026, the Prosecutor General's Office stopped attempts to withdraw 4.3 billion rubles from Russia under the guise of fulfilling non-existent obligations. Foreign residents have been involved in such transactions, and regulatory authorities have entered into arbitration disputes to stop illegal transfers. But the problem is wider than individual cross-border payments. Through legal proceedings, unscrupulous market participants may attempt to launder money, create artificial debt, or gain an advantage over genuine creditors. How debt becomes a channel for transferring money In the first half of 2026, plaintiffs participated in more than 3,200 arbitration cases. It was possible to stop the withdrawal of 4.3 billion rubles abroad under the pretext of fulfilling non-existent obligations. The economic significance of such a design is the creation of a legal basis for transferring funds to a foreign recipient. It could be a contract according to which the Russian party assumed a debt to a foreign counterparty. A specific case is indicative. In August 2025, the Volga Transport Prosecutor's Office reported an attempt to withdraw more than 380 million rubles abroad through the transfer of claims. A foreign company and a Russian company related to it entered into an agreement according to which it was intended to collect this amount from the water transportation plant of the Nizhny Novgorod region and transfer it abroad. As a result of the prosecution's intervention, the Ninth Arbitration Court annulled the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court, which had previously refused to fulfill the claims, and declared the assignment agreement invalid. The reason was a violation of the procedure for fulfilling obligations to foreign creditors through special accounts. This chapter does not refer to the current 4.3 billion rubles, but shows how design with allocation of claims can become a tool for cross-border transfer.