MOSCOW, July 14 The Presnensky Court of Moscow refused to transfer under house arrest Artem Chekalin, the husband of Valeria Chekalina (blogger Lerchek), the accused in tax evasion and money laundering, reports a correspondent from the courtroom.
«The investigator's request to change the preventive measure is denied,» the judge announced the decision.
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Earlier, he had a milder measure of restraint — a ban on certain actions. No one restricted his movements, it was only forbidden to use the phone, the Internet and communicate with witnesses in the case. However, the Investigative Committee considered that he violated these prohibitions and asked to add the inability to leave the house to other restrictions.
The reason for the petition to tighten the preventive measure was his communication with his mother-in-law, who is a witness in the money laundering case, and an interview with one of the bloggers in which he spoke about the investigation. «Chekalin, going to the broadcast to the blogger, knowing that the interview would be posted on the Internet and his actions would be related to the ban on using the Internet, told how the investigation was going, how the searches were carried out and made an appeal to an unlimited circle of people,» the investigator said in a statement. court.
The defense insisted that Chekalin's mother-in-law was not a witness in the tax evasion case, in which a preventive measure was chosen. In addition, she is the grandmother of his children, and he «should not have been hiding in the basement when she comes.» The accused insisted that he did not disclose the secret of the investigation during the interview, but called on other people to pay taxes. «If there was anything in the interview: pay taxes and live in peace. There was no other message there,» he explained.
The defense also indicated that both defendants paid off 311 million rubles of debt, and are also ready to pay penalties and fines. The investigator explained that the amount of damage is still being determined.
Two criminal cases were opened against Chekalina and her husband. The first concerns tax evasion for 311 million rubles. According to the investigation, Chekalina enjoyed a simplified taxation system, although her income from fitness marathons exceeded the maximum allowable limit of 150 million rubles a year.
The second case is about money laundering (legalization) on an especially large scale. According to the investigation, in April 2021, the Chekalins laundered more than 130 million rubles, buying dollars for them, «thus disguising the connection of legalized funds with a criminal source of their origin.» : forbade to communicate with witnesses and accomplices (except for close relatives), use mail, telephone, other means of communication and the Internet. At the same time, their movements were not restricted.
Chekalina, known under the nickname Lerchek, has about 10 million followers on Instagram (owned by Meta, whose activities are banned in Russia as extremist). Her husband is her companion in this business.
* Meta activity (social networks Facebook, Instagram) is banned in Russia as extremist.
May 8, 08:00