Another criminal case against blogger Lerchek (real name Valery Chekalin) was also dropped due to lack of corpus. In this respect reports RAPSI, with reference to Konstantin Tretyakov, AB EPAM’s criminal law practice partner.
“In March last year, a criminal case on a particularly large scale (article “b”, part 4, article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) was initiated against the Chekalins on the legalization of funds obtained through crime. Tretyakov said that on March 1, 2024, the case was closed due to lack of evidence of the crime and the arrest was removed from the accounts and property of the spouses.
Cekalins in December 2023 fully refunded They paid debts, fines and penalties to the state – about 500 million rubles. The tax evasion case against them was later dropped, and restrictions on bloggers’ movement and internet use were lifted.
Previously Cekalina implied He said that he was going through a difficult period in his marriage with his wife Artem due to the courts.