Short answer. Possibly. Article 1414 lets you repudiate a contract involving money paid for an illegal purpose before that purpose is accomplished or any third party is harmed. Recovery is not automatic; the court decides, and only allows it if doing so would serve the public interest.
What the law says
When money is paid or property delivered for an illegal purpose, the contract may be repudiated by one of the parties before the purpose has been accomplished, or before any damage has been caused to a third person.
Civil Code, Article 1414 — Repudiation Before the Illegal Purpose. Read the full provision →
What the law says
the courts may, if the public interest will thus be subserved, allow the party repudiating the contract to recover the money or property
Civil Code, Article 1414 — Repudiation Before the Illegal Purpose. Read the full provision →
Repudiating before the purpose is carried out
Article 1414 makes an exception to the usual rule that courts leave parties to an illegal agreement where they put themselves. It provides that when money is paid or property delivered for an illegal purpose, the contract may be repudiated by one of the parties before the purpose has been accomplished, or before any damage has been caused to a third person. Because you backed out of the deal before the illegal purpose was actually carried out, and apparently before anyone else was harmed by it, you are within the window this article addresses, where repudiation is still possible.
Recovery depends on the public interest, not just timing
Timing your repudiation correctly is only the first requirement. The article continues: the courts may, if the public interest will thus be subserved, allow the party repudiating the contract to recover the money or property. The word may matters: recovery is not automatic just because you repudiated in time. A court weighs whether letting you get the money back actually serves the public interest, which generally means discouraging the illegal purpose in the first place, rather than simply restoring you to where you started as a matter of routine.
Why the law allows recovery at all here
Ordinarily, someone who pays into an illegal scheme cannot ask a court's help to get the money back, because courts do not enforce or unwind illegal bargains for either party's benefit. Article 1414 departs from that in a narrow way, because letting a party repudiate before the illegal purpose is completed can itself discourage illegal conduct: if backing out early carries a real chance of recovering the money, a party is given an incentive to abandon the scheme before any harm is actually done.
What this means for your situation
Because your repudiation happened before the illegal purpose was accomplished, you have a basis to seek recovery under Article 1414, but you should understand this is not guaranteed relief. Whether a court actually allows you to recover the money depends on its assessment of whether doing so serves the public interest in your particular case, not on repudiation alone. Documenting exactly when and how you backed out, before the scheme went any further, is worth doing carefully.