$700k credit card trickster and Russia's largest on-line bank drop lawsuits

Week after a Russian man made headlines for suing Russia’s leading online lender Tinkoff for $700k after “jokingly” writing his own byline terms in a credit agreement, both parties have agreed to stop legal action.

“The conflict is unconstructive, this is why we decided to resolve it in a gentlemanly way, by lifting the mutual claims,” Tinkoff Credit Systems cites its President Oliver Hughes as saying.

“In 2008 it was just a joke, when I tailored my own form and produced that to the bank instead of the official form. But the joke has gone too far,” RIA Novosti cites the small print scribe Dmitry Agarkov as saying.

“Consultant” legal agency in Agarkov’s Central Russian hometown of Voronezh, which has advocated on behalf of his interests, said “there won’t be any legal trials.”

Back in 2008 Dmitry Agarkov ‘amended’ a credit offer by Tinkoff Credit Systems and handwrote his own credit terms on a scanned copy of the initial document. He opted for a 0 percent interest rate and no fees, adding that the customer "is not obliged to pay any fees and charges imposed by bank tariffs.”  The bank signed and certified the document without reading it, unwittingly giving Agarkov an unlimited credit line.

The reaction of Oleg Tinkov, the bank’s owner, spooked Agarkov, who swiftly considered leaving Russia.

“Our lawyers don’t think [Agarkov] will get 24 million rubles, but four years in prison for fraud. Now it’s a matter of principle for @tcsbank,” Tinkov wrote via Twitter. 

“I fear for my life and plan to leave Voronezh and Russia,” Agarkov replied the next day.

Earlier this week, Agarkov filed another lawsuit alleging libel – this time against the very same Oleg Tinkov.