Famous Russian blogger owes the state 28 million

Blogger Lerchek Found in Multi-Million Debt to Tax Service

As reported by TUT.AZ with reference to TCC, popular blogger Valeria Chekalina, known online as Lerchek, has accumulated an impressive debt to the Federal Tax Service amounting to more than 28 million rubles. The debt is related to an investigation into the illegal transfer of funds outside of Russia.

According to information provided by law enforcement representatives, the exact amount of Chekalina's tax debt is 28 million 365 thousand 436 rubles. Law enforcement officials noted that the blogger's former husband, Artem Chekalin, has no tax debts under his taxpayer identification number.

Valeria Chekalina, her ex-husband Artem Chekalin, and their business partner Roman Vishnyak have been charged under part 3 of article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. They are suspected of conducting currency operations to transfer funds to non-resident accounts using forged documents.

At the center of the investigation is Lerchek's fitness marathon business. Investigators believe that Chekalina, together with accomplices, sold courses via the internet, entered into agreements with a foreign company, and directed the received funds to overseas accounts. At the same time, the accused provided currency control authorities with documents containing false information about the reasons, purposes, and designation of these money transfers. According to the investigation, they managed to transfer about 251 million rubles abroad in this manner. All defendants in the case deny their guilt.