Chekalina Valeria Valerievna

Chekalina Valeria Valerievna

Biography

2023

Search in the case of tax evasion for 300 million rubles

Investigators, with the forceful support of riot police, searched the house of blogger spouses Valeria and Artem Chekalin, accused of tax evasion for 300 million rubles. The operational video on March 7, 2023 was published by the press service of the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR).

The personnel shows law enforcement officers in the mansion of the defendants in the case, they read out documents on attracting as defendants in the tax evasion case, there are Gelandewagen, Lamborghini cars in the garage, jewelry and cash are on the table.

According to the investigation, blogger Valeria Chekalina, known as Lerchek, formally operated as an individual entrepreneur from 2020 to 2022 and used a simplified taxation scheme with an income limit of 150 million rubles a year, while earning much more. As the investigators established, in order to evade taxes, Chekalina attracted her husband and relatives as accomplices, whose accounts received income from her activities.

It is difficult to call a criminal case on tax evasion unique, a girl could face up to six years in prison, Alexander Dobrovinsky, head of the law firm Alexander Dobrovinsky and Partners, told RIA Novosti. Answering the question whether the story is noteworthy from the point of view of the personality of the defendant, Dobrovinsky noted:

The tax office does not divide people into stars and non-stars, for example, the tax office recently asked Philip Kirkorov with taxes for a penthouse, there was still an Arbat-Prestige case - the prosecution apologized at the end for incorrectly counting.

Valeria and Artem Chekalin are popular bloggers. On their Instagram pages (the social network belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). 10.4 million and 4 million users were signed up, respectively (by March 7, 2023). More than 691 thousand users have subscribed to the Lerchek Telegram channel. According to Medialogia, Valeria Chekalina in January 2023 ranked fourth in the ranking of popular Instagram bloggers.^[1]

Arrest of 311 million rubles in accounts

On May 11, 2023, the Savelovsky Court of Moscow, as part of a criminal investigation into the legalization of funds on an especially large scale, seized more than 311 million rubles in the bank accounts of bloggers Valeria and Artem Chekalin.

According to TASS, citing the press service of the court, the second similar decision was made by the district court against the individual entrepreneur of Chekalin's wife. The court decision entered into legal force, the court added.

Blogger Valeria Chekalina

Earlier, the press service of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Moscow reported that the bank accounts of the Chekalin bloggers were seized, but did not specify the amount of funds arrested. The department then noted that the imposed interim measures on the accounts of bloggers within the amount of arrears are due to the fact that the necessary investigative actions and operational-search measures are being carried out in the criminal case, aimed at compensating for the damage caused to the budget system, which has not yet been repaid by the accused.

On April 19, 2023, it became known that Valeria Chekalina, known on the Web as Lercek, refused her former lawyer and did not appear at the court session, where her petition to change the preventive measure was considered.

First, Valeria Chekalina and her husband were charged with tax evasion and complicity, respectively. Later, the couple was charged with money laundering on an especially large scale - violation of paragraph "b" of part 4 of article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, in April 2021, the Chekalins, "acting as a group of persons by prior conspiracy," legalized 130 million rubles and acquired US dollars on them, "which disguised the connection of legalized funds with a criminal source of their origin."

On March 16, 2023, the Savelovsky court in Moscow chose as a preventive measure Valeria and Artem Chekalin a ban on the use of the Internet, communication with witnesses and accomplices (except for close relatives), the use of mail, telephone and other means of communication. The court did not impose restrictions on the movement of the accused. The Chekalins deny their guilt.^[2]

Payment of debt of the Federal Tax Service of 0.5 billion rubles

Blogger Valeria Chekalina (Lerchek) and her husband Artem Chekalin paid a total of 0.5 billion rubles to the Federal Tax Inspectorate (FTS) and paid off all debts to the state. This was told by the Chekalin's lawyer Konstantin Tretyakov.

On November 10 [2023], they unconditionally fulfilled their public promise and fully repaid the debt to the budget, taking into account the additional charges of the penalty and the fine. To do this, they made an additional payment in the amount of 296 million rubles (of the previously paid 311 million, part was spent on paying current taxes). In total, by decision of the Federal Tax Service, 500 million were paid (arrears, penalties, fine). We are constructively interacting with the investigation: the investigator removed the arrest from the account and we immediately filled out and transferred the payment order to the bank for an additional payment of the remaining amount, - he said.

Valeria and Artem Chekalin

By mid-November 2023, 10.1 million and almost 4 million users, respectively, have subscribed to the pages of Valeria (ler_chek) and Artem (artem_chek) Chekalin on Instagram (owned by Meta, which is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia and banned), now Lercek's account has been transferred to a closed format. Valeria Chekalina in January 2023 ranked fourth in the ranking of the most popular Instagram bloggers of Medialogia. In addition to selling access to fitness marathons, training and nutrition programs, Chekalina also owns her own cosmetics brand Letique Cosmetics.

Lerchek was a defendant in a criminal case on tax evasion. Her husband was charged with aiding and abetting tax evasion. At the end of August 2023, it became known that another criminal case was opened against Lercek - she is suspected of money laundering on an especially large scale. According to the Telegram channel Mash, the girl took 130 million rubles abroad.

In July 2023, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation asked Chekalina to tighten the preventive measure and send her and her husband under house arrest.^[3]

2024

New criminal case - on the illegal withdrawal of funds abroad on forged documents

On October 2, 2024, it became known that the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a new criminal case against blogger Valeria Chekalina, also known under the pseudonym Lercek, and her former wife Artem Chekalin. They are suspected of performing transactions to transfer currency to non-resident accounts using falsified documents.

Investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for TINAO are investigating. The case was initiated under Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - the performance of currency transactions for the transfer of funds in foreign currency or the currency of the Russian Federation to the accounts of non-residents using forged documents. Such acts may be punishable by imprisonment for up to three years.

source = Valeria Chekalina's Instagram page (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia)

According to RIA Novosti, the investigation is related to the payment of online marathons by Valeria Chekalina on forged documents "through Dubai." According to investigators, Lercek and her ex-husband withdrew a total of $1 million and 250 million rubles on forged documents. Searches were carried out at the bloggers' places of residence. According to TASS, real estate and other property of Artem Chekalin may be arrested as part of the case. In addition, a ban on certain actions can be chosen as a preventive measure for a blogger.

Investigators are considering the possibility of imposing a security arrest on the property of Artem Chekalin, including on his real estate abroad. This can be done after an accurate assessment of the damage in a new criminal case, law enforcement sources said.

Valeria Chekalina's lawyer Ekaterina Gordon said that the new criminal case came as a surprise for bloggers, since they had previously settled the claims of law enforcement agencies in two proceedings. Gordon confirmed the searches, adding that "what's happening is like a witch hunt." A ^[4]

Details of the scheme of illegal withdrawal of funds abroad revealed

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in early October 2024 revealed the details of a new scheme for the illegal withdrawal of funds abroad, in which bloggers Valeria and Artem Chekalin, known as Lercek, as well as their business partner, are suspected. According to the department, the suspects managed to illegally withdraw more than ₽250 million from the country in six months.

According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk revealed the details of the scheme used by the suspects. According to the information provided, bloggers, together with a partner, organized a fitness marathon, which was sold to Russians through social networks. At the same time, contracts were concluded with foreign legal entities, and payment for marathons went to the accounts of a foreign bank.

source = Courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow

To disguise illegal transactions, the suspects provided false information about the amounts and purposes of transfers to the financial monitoring authorities. The head of the press service of the prosecutor's office Moscow , Lyudmila Nefedova, noted that young people used fake documents with inaccurate information about the reasons and purpose of money transfers.

According to preliminary data from the investigation, the funds were withdrawn to Dubai. A criminal case has been initiated against the Chekalins and their business partner under article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Performing foreign exchange transactions to transfer funds in foreign currency or the currency of the Russian Federation to non-residents' accounts using forged documents."

The former spouses of Chekalina were detained for 48 hours. On October 4, 2024, the Troitsky District Court of Moscow should choose a preventive measure for them. The investigator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, speaking in the Troitsky Court of Moscow, where the issue of house arrest of Artem Chekalin was considered, said that the blogger should be sent under house arrest, since he could hide from law enforcement officers or destroy evidence in a criminal case.

Earlier, the Investigative Committee of Russia closed the case of tax evasion after Valeria and Artem Chekalin pleaded guilty and fully paid tax arrears, penalties and a fine totaling ₽504 million. However, the money laundering case was not dismissed. The investigation of the new criminal case by October 3, 2024 continues.^[5][6]

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