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Man Who Outwitted Bank Ends $700K Lawsuit

Dmitry Agarkov, the man who sued Tinkoff Credit Systems for violating terms that he had added to the fine print of his credit card contract, has made peace with the bank.

"The conflict wasn't constructive, so we decided to end it like gentlemen, by withdrawing our mutual claims," the bank's president said in a statement published on the bank's website Wednesday.

"In 2008 it was simply a joke...But the joke has gone too far," Agarkov said, Prime reported.

As part of their peace agreement, the bank issued a debit card especially for Agarkov that gives him up to 30 percent cash back on some purchases..

The 42-year old Voronezh resident told Slon.ru that he decided to modify his credit card application after noticing that the interest rate written in the fine print was a staggering 45 percent and not the 12.9 percent advertised in their booklet.

He spent half a year developing his new contract, which included a 0 percent interest rate, no commissions or fees and a compensation of 6 million rubles ($181,000) should the bank cancelthe agreement.

Agarkov even made a website under a domain name similar to that of the bank's to make the contract look as close as possible to the original.

The bank employees approved his contract without noticing the changes, and Agarkov used the credit card with the agreed-upon terms for two years.

In 2010, Tinkoff sued Agarkov for 45,000 rubles in fees and credit card debt. The court found Agarkov's contract modifications valid and only ordered him to pay the 19,000-ruble principle debt.

On Aug. 1, Agarkov responded with his own suit, claiming 24 million rubles as recompense for the bank violating his version of the contract.

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