The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed that a criminal case for fraud has been opened against blogger Ayaz Shabutdinov (Article 159 of the Criminal Code), official representative of the department Irina Volk said.
According to preliminary data, Shabutdinov “together with accomplices, acting on behalf of named after several legal entities, promised to teach anyone effective entrepreneurial activity with the receipt of super-income» and offered to buy his trainings and webinars, «using aggressive marketing.»
“Currently, there is information about several episodes of illegal activities by employees of one of the commercial organizations through which the blogger sold his courses,” added the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Ministry of Internal Affairs Media also showed a video of a search in the blogger’s apartment; investigative actions were carried out by FSB and OBEP officers. Earlier, news agencies reported that Shabutdinov was detained in Moscow, where he returned from behind Austria.
As Kommersant wrote, the reason for initiating the case was the statements of eight of the blogger’s students who paid him 5 million rubles. The influencer’s clients claim that Shabutdinov’s business advice boiled down to the fact that “you have to believe in yourself — and everything will work out.” The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not specify whether Shabutdinov was detained.
Later, the blogger’s team called the accusations unfounded. “The company is being audited and witnesses are interviewed based on a statement from one of the clients (N.V. Kalistratova) about disagreement with the terms of the agreement for participation in the program in 2019. The amount of claims is 1.9 million rubles. At the same time, the company fully fulfilled all its obligations,” said the blogger’s colleagues. They added that they are cooperating with the investigation.
Shabutdinov’s Instagram account is subscribed to by 1.9 million people, and another 314 thousand are subscribed to his YouTube channel. There he gives advice on increasing your earnings. YouTube blogger Katya Konosova said in the video “Infogypsies Squared” that he offered the services of a mentor at a cost of 55 million rubles per year.
The blogger’s profile states that he is “the founder of a new generation business school.” Last May, he wrote that he became a billionaire before the age of 30, having opened the company ANO TsRP and the IT company Like Center LLC.