Pick up the purchase: Larisa Dolina's rights to the apartment were confirmed in the cassation

The court of Cassation confirmed Larisa Dolina's right to the apartment, which she sold under the influence of fraudsters. The case was heard behind closed doors. Earlier, a similar decision was made by the Khamovnichesky district court, and then the Moscow City Court. Based on the decision of the cassation instance, Larisa Dolina is not obliged to return 112 million rubles received from the buyer of the apartment Polina Lurie. To get the money back, the court recommended Lurie to file a lawsuit against people accused of defrauding the singer. At the same time, as Izvestia found out, Larisa Dolina almost lost her country house — fraudsters convinced her to sell this property. The case is high-profile and precedent-setting, and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation needs clarification on this issue, lawyers believe.

Why did the court return Larisa Dolina's apartment rights?

The second Court of Cassation confirmed Larisa Dolina's ownership of the apartment, which she lost due to the actions of fraudsters. The complaint of single mother Polina Lurie was rejected and the decisions of the lower authorities were upheld.

According to the case file available to Izvestia, Larisa Dolina motivated her demands to return her apartment by the fact that fraudulent actions had been committed against her for several months. They led to the fact that the actress lost ownership of the apartment, which is the main place of residence for her and family members.

In April 2024, two men who introduced themselves as employees of the FSB and Rosfinmonitoring misled her that intruders had gained access to her bank accounts, issued a loan to her and mortgaged her apartment. Dolina was urgently required to sell the apartment, and the money received was allegedly used to repay the loan and withdraw collateral from the property. The singer was told that otherwise the housing would be sold at auction, and she and her family would be evicted. She was assured that after completing the "special operation" and searching for criminals, everything would be returned to her and the deal would be canceled. Dolina was referred to a specific real estate agency.

The singer and the realtor have signed an agreement to find a buyer for the apartment. The sale announcement was posted on an online platform. In May 2024, Polina Lurie inspected the apartment and signed a preliminary purchase and sale agreement with her. The woman paid a deposit for the apartment.

In June, the main agreement was already signed — it was signed at a branch of one of the major banks. There is a camera recording showing Larisa Dolina and Polina Lurie at the cash desk at the time of disbursement and recalculation of funds, which were then deposited in an individual safe deposit box. The singer paid 4.4 million rubles for the provision of real estate services. The transfer of ownership under the contract was registered in the capital's Rosreestr. The documents note that the realtors subsequently returned the funds to the actress for the transaction in the amount of over 3 million rubles.

The singer, according to the case file, realized that she was being "bred" by scammers only after their request to sell her country house. After that, she went to the police.

Polina Lurie, objecting to the satisfaction of the singer's claim, told the court that before signing the contract, she personally communicated with the singer and negotiated the terms of the deal. All the documents were checked, the money was placed in a safe deposit box, which Larisa Dolina then took away.

In March 2025, the court of first instance granted the singer's claim, recognizing her ownership of the apartment. The purchase and sale agreements that were concluded between her and the new owner were terminated. Polina Lurie's counterclaim, in which she asked to evict Dolina from the apartment, was rejected by the court. Then the Moscow City Court sided with the actress.

The meeting, like other trials, was held behind closed doors — Larisa Dolina's side insisted on this. The representative of Pauline Lurie objected to the closure of the meeting.

Who deceived the singer

The court of first instance, satisfying the singer's claim, supported her arguments, pointing out that "when making these transactions, there was no true intention and expressed will to alienate the apartment, she acted under the influence of outsiders who convinced her that she was cooperating with law enforcement agencies, participating in a "special operation" to identify and detain criminals, transactions are carried out fictitiously under the control of law enforcement officers." Polina Lurie, as the court noted, is not deprived of the opportunity to file claims for damages against those accused of deceiving Larisa Dolina.

A criminal case is currently being considered in the Balashikha Court of the Moscow region against four defendants who, according to the investigation, participated in this scam. Dmitry Leontiev, Angela Tsyrulnikova, Artur Kamenetsky and Andrey Osnovy are in the dock. They are accused of "fraud as part of an organized group and on an especially large scale, which resulted in the deprivation of a citizen's right to housing." The state prosecution has requested from 6 to 9.5 years in prison.

As it became known from the case file, it was Leontiev who called Larisa Dolina in 2024, and, posing as an employee of law enforcement agencies, convinced the People's Artist that her savings were at risk. As a result, the singer gave the attackers a total of more than 175 million rubles, including 112 million rubles earned after the sale of the apartment in Khamovniki, although its market value was about 149 million. The singer transferred part of the proceeds to "secure" bank accounts, and handed over the rest to couriers.

The defendants, except for Artur Kamenetsky, pleaded not guilty, stating that they themselves were victims of fraud and were drops, that is, people who issue bank cards for money transfers and give them to third parties. Kamenetsky admits guilt only partially — only for cashing out funds.

Three defendants are accused of fraudulent actions against Larisa Dolina, and Tsyrulnikova is accused of defrauding another pensioner and a resident of the Moscow region. Tsyrulnikova was detained while receiving a fake money, when she tried for the second time to deceive one of the victims.

Lawyers interviewed by Izvestia said that now Polina Lurie can only appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, she has no other legal mechanisms left. Or apply to the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

Legal gap

The decisions that courts make in the Dolina-Lurie case are not at all typical in legal practice, however, they have recently begun to occur much more frequently, so clarification of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on this issue is needed, lawyers interviewed by Izvestia emphasized.

For example, Albert Khaleyan, a lawyer and partner of the Vector Prime Moscow Bar Association, said that there is currently no consensus on this issue, since there was no special ruling by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. It is necessary because judicial acts are issued in similar cases and they are all different.

Currently, various ways of solving the problem are being proposed at the legislative level, in particular, the establishment of a so-called cooling-off period when making home purchase and sale transactions, he noted.

— The entire legal community is now literally discussing every day any judicial acts, any new documents, any interpretation concerning such cases, — said the lawyer.

Andrei Nekrasov, a lawyer, Candidate of Law, managing partner of the Moscow Bar Association Nekrasov, Rudomanov and Partners, also stated the need for the Supreme Court to clarify such cases. In addition, according to him, the judicial justification in this case is extremely weak. The money, according to the lawyer, should still be returned to Polina Lurie, who had no contact with the scammers.

Victoria Shabanova, head of the Shabanova and Partners law firm, also noted that such cases began to occur not only with apartments, but also with vehicle sales.

— And since such stories are appearing more and more often, I think the government urgently needs to take measures to protect buyers. As families, including those with children, who have given their last earned money to an unscrupulous seller, often suffer," she said.

The interests of buyers in such cases very often fade into the background for the reason that the court considers the interests of the owner, arguing that the ownership right was allegedly lost against the will of the seller, experts noted.