NOVOSIBIRSK, February 20 - RAPSI. A court has ordered MDM Bank, one of Russia's top-30 banks, refund to its private client $15,480 for illegally charging lending fees, the Bank Fees Refund Center reports on Monday

The center represented the borrower.

The Novosibirsk Central Court issued a writ of execution for the bank and the client has got the money back. This is the largest amount refunded by a bank in the Siberian Region for illegal bank fees.

"The borrower received the 1.9 million ruble ($63,454) loan for a five-year term on June 1, 2007. The bank monthly charged 9,500 rubles ($317.27) merely for the loan account maintenance. Charging fees for loan account opening and maintenance violates current legislation," the center reported.

The refunded amount included 427,500 rubles ($14,277) in maintenance fee, 30,000 rubles ($1,000) in utilization fee, 5,000 rubles ($167) in legal fees and 1,000 rubles ($33) in moral damages. After the decision Supreme Commercial Court's Presidium ruled in November 2009 that imposing fees on individuals is against the law, the clients had an opportunity to return their funds.

The center was established in March 2011 in Novosibirsk to return individuals the bank fees unduly charged under loan agreements.