The amount of funds transferred abroad in the new criminal case of blogger Lerchek (real name – Valeria Chekalina) and her ex-husband Artem Chekalin may exceed $1 million, TASS reports, citing a source in law enforcement agencies. According to the agency’s source, the ex-spouses have been withdrawing and cashing funds through the UAE for the past two years.
The Telegram channel “112” previously reported that the damage from the Chekalins’ activities could exceed 500 million rubles. According to the channel, the couple transferred half of this amount to Dubai using the marathon buyers’ accounts in Sberbank. Transfers abroad were also made through other banks.
It had previously become known that Lerchek had confessed during her first interrogation. The interrogation had been conducted before the court had granted the motion to place her under house arrest. However, she later retracted her confession.
The head of the Law and Order Center in Moscow and the Moscow Region, lawyer Alexander Khaminsky, explained that the investigation should charge the Chekalin bloggers with tax evasion , which would open the way to ending the criminal prosecution if the debt to the budget is repaid. This, he said, would also entail the removal of claims for the withdrawal of funds abroad.