Fedyakina Valeria Alexandrovna

Fedyakina Valeria Alexandrovna

Biography

2024: Cryptocurrency fraud charge

On October 18, 2024, it became known that the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow seized the assets of blogger Valeria Fedyakina, known under the pseudonym Bitmama, for a total of ₽2,2 billion. The accused is under investigation for a major cryptocurrency fraud.

According to TASS, the decision on interim measures against Fedyakina's assets was made in early 2024 and has already entered into legal force. The arrest was imposed on all bank accounts established by the investigation and real estate belonging to or related to the accused.

The Investigative Committee of Russia has completed the investigation of the criminal case against Bitmama. She was charged with committing four episodes of fraud on an especially large scale under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The total amount of damage caused to the four victims is estimated at more than billions of rubles in various currencies, including cryptocurrency.

Valeria Fedyakina is in a pre-trial detention center, where she recently gave birth to a daughter. The investigation insists on the extension of the preventive measure in the form of detention until the start of the trial. The main arguments in favor of such a decision are that the accused has a residence permit in the United Arab Emirates and that she does not admit her guilt.

The sanction of the article under which Bitmama is accused provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 10 years with a fine of up to ₽1 million or in the amount of the convict's salary for a period of up to three years. The accused's property was seized in order to ensure the possible repayment of damage to the victims or to pay a fine in the event of a conviction.

The victims, the accused and her defense have already begun to familiarize themselves with the case materials. No trial start date has yet been set.^[1]

2025: Arrest on charges of embezzlement of bitcoins worth 2.2 billion rubles

On January 15, 2025, it became known that the Russian cryptoblogger Valery Fedyakin, known as Bitmama, was accused of embezzling large sums of money, dirhams and bitcoins. The total amount of damage is estimated at at least 2.2 billion rubles.

According to TASS, referring to information received in law enforcement agencies, the embezzlement was carried out using all kinds of schemes related to attracting investors. In particular, in one of the largest episodes, the amount of 800 million rubles appears. According to the case file, Fedyakina, who has a residence permit in the UAE, offered investors investments in cryptocurrency with the promise of high profitability. However, after that, the funds received disappeared.

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Фото: Press service of courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow

According to RTVI, the trial in the Fedyakina case, which was arrested in September 2023, began in the Presnensky Court of Moscow. She was charged under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud). Such acts entail punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to ten years with a fine of up to 1 million rubles. The defendant does not admit her guilt.

RTVI notes that the victims in the case include one of the founders of Yota, general director of Antares Yevgeny Roitman, as well as deputy general director of Ruscontractor Mikhail Westerfried and major investor Gagik Gulakyan. It was at the request of the latter that an investigation into Fedyakina began. It follows from Gulakian's testimony that in 2023 he decided to invest in a rapidly growing real estate market in the UAE. Fedyakina volunteered to help in this, after which Gulakyan began to transfer hundreds of millions of rubles to the cryptoblogger. However, soon after that, the man realized that he had been deceived, and filed a statement with law enforcement agencies.^[2]

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