On March 7, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against one of Russia’s richest bloggers, Valeria Chekalina (known under the pseudonym Lerchek) and her husband Artem. This was reported by the press service of the department.
“A criminal case has been opened against Valeria Chekalina and her husband Artem Chekalin for complicity in tax evasion and tax evasion from an individual,” the report says.
According to the UK, from July 2020 to July 2022, Chekalina actively earned money in fitness marathons. At the same time, she was registered as an individual entrepreneur with a simplified tax system and the maximum allowable income of 150 million rubles per year. But during these two years she earned a much larger sum than her activities.
In order not to switch to the general tax system, not to pay VAT and personal income tax, the blogger attracted her husband Artem Chekalin and other relatives as accomplices – they opened individual entrepreneurs, whose accounts were overpaid from fitness marathons. The limit set for Lerchek. The investigation believes that Chekalina “illegally carried out the division of business and avoided paying taxes of more than 300 million rubles.”
Law enforcement officers came with searches to the Chekalins estate in the cottage settlement of Ilyinka in Krasnogorsk. A few years ago, a family of bloggers bought a 400-foot home where they made a designer interior. Now such houses are sold here without sale at a price of 30 million rubles. On Instagram, Lerchek (the owner of Meta is recognized and banned in Russia as an extremist) previously showed the layout of the house: swimming pool, hookah lounge, summer terrace, cinema, hammam, massage room, gym, several bedrooms, five-car a garage.
Tesla and Mercedes-Benz cars were found in the suspects’ garage, while expensive jewelry and large amounts of cash were found in their home. Mash reported that they found a US passport at the house along with a dozen Russian passports. In addition, the investigators seized eight kilograms of pure 999 carat gold bars, with a total value of about 36 million rubles.
The Investigative Committee noted that they have now determined the identities of the accused defendants, and searches have been made at other addresses in the Lerchek case.
According to Telegram channel 112, Valeria and Artem Chekalin are currently under house arrest, despite traveling abroad. Sources say information about the black accountant Lerchek could be told to his personal stylist, Elvira Yankovskaya. Last fall, the blogger accused Yankovskaya of fraud – allegedly selling fakes of famous brands to herself and her friends at the price of the originals.
A collective statement was written against the stylist, with investigators prosecuted specifically for large-scale embezzlement. In February 2023, Yankovskaya’s preventive measure was changed, and now she is under house arrest.
Literally on the eve of the searches and the initiation of a criminal case, Chekalina on social networks told about her positive impressions of visiting the tax service.
“It’s like I went to the mall for coffee,” the blogger wrote on Instagram. He noted that the Federal Tax Service works quickly and efficiently, helping employees quickly get a digital signature before leaving Russia.
Chekalin’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, in an interview with socialbites.ca said that his clients have not yet been charged, although the Investigative Committee stated otherwise.
“No charges were made. A criminal case against an unspecified group of people is being investigated. A criminal case can be brought against a person, or only for the commission of a crime by an unknown person. In our case, the second case occurs. No punishment threatens Chekalin, ”the lawyer explained.
Attorney Alexander Dobrovinsky suggested that in this case the prosecution would be based on prior agreement and tax evasion with the complicity of a group of individuals. And the circumstances in this case may be different: if Lerchek is recognized as the leader of a criminal organization, he can be sentenced to 6 years in prison.
Valeria Chekalina, 30, is a native of Togliatti. She graduated from Moscow State University and since 2018 she blogs with her husband on Instagram, where she has more than 10 million subscribers. There she talks about fitness, online training, running weight loss marathons. The couple has three children.
Forbes ranked Lerchek seventh in its list of the highest paid Russian influencers on Instagram. In 2021, his page took the fifth place among the most popular profiles in the Russian segment of the social network, according to Medialogy. In the same year, his total income was estimated at more than 700 million rubles.
In an interview, the blogger said that he received from 1 to 3 million rubles for an advertising integration in social networks. And he was offered 35 million rubles to organize the draw two years ago.