THE SUPREME COURT REJECTED A $10 MILLION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE BANKRUPTCY TRUSTEE

The insurance company appealed to the court (case no. A40-81332/22) with a claim for recovery of funds from the manager by way of recourse, referring to the fact that in the framework of the debtor's bankruptcy case, losses were recovered from the manager for violating the procedure for settlements on utility bills, and the insurance company paid funds to compensate for these losses, on the basis of a liability insurance contract.

The courts of three instances satisfied the claim, pointing out that the manager's guilt in causing losses was established by a judicial act that entered into force.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, refusing to satisfy the claim, noted that the above–mentioned judicial act did not establish the form of the manager's guilt, and the plaintiff did not prove it.

In this case, the courts concluded that there were grounds for imposing civil liability on the manager in the form of damages, having established the fact of causing harm as a result of his actions (inaction), expressed in the illegal retention of the received target funds for utilities and their non-transfer in full to the resource-supplying organization, as well as causalan investigative link between them and the adverse consequences that have occurred for the lender. But the judicial acts on such a case do not contain indications of the form of guilt in the form of the manager's intent.

At the same time, the manager referred to causing them losses due to gross negligence, due to the changed judicial practice on the issue of utility payments.