Court to determine if blogger Lerchik will be placed under house arrest on July 21

Moscow, July 14 – The Presnensky Court in Moscow will decide on July 21 whether to place under house arrest Valeria Chekalina (blogger Lerchik), accused of tax evasion and money laundering, a the News Agency correspondent reports from the courtroom.

The judge decided to “adjourn the meeting until July 21”. She made this decision to ask the investigation to record a video of an interview with Lerchik and her husband for a blogger.

Now she has a lighter measure of self-control – prohibition of certain actions. Nobody restricts her movements, it is only forbidden to use the phone, the Internet and communicate with witnesses in the case. However, the United Kingdom considered that it had violated these prohibitions and now requires that the inability to leave the house be added to other restrictions.

The reason for the petition to tighten the protective measure is an interview Lerchik and her husband with a blogger, in which they talked about the investigation. The investigation considered that in this way they indirectly violated the ban on using the Internet. The defense insisted that they had shown by their own example how important it is to pay taxes. The court decided to deal with the video on its own.

The court has already refused to transfer Artem Chekalin to house arrest.

The defense also noted that the defendants have paid off debts in the amount of 311 million rubles, and they are also ready to pay fines and fines. The investigator explained that the amount of damage is still being determined.

Two criminal cases have been opened against Chekalina and her husband. The first related to tax evasion for 311 million rubles. According to the investigation, Chekalina used a simplified tax system, although her income from fitness racing exceeded the maximum allowable amount of 150 million rubles a year.

The second case concerns money laundering (legalization) on a particularly large scale. According to the investigation, in April 2021, the Shikalons laundered more than 130 million rubles, buying dollars for them, “thereby disguising the link between legitimate money and its criminal source.”

The Moscow Savelovsky Court chose a preventive measure for the defendants in the form of a ban on certain actions: it was forbidden to communicate with witnesses and accomplices (except for close relatives), to use mail, telephone, other means of communication and the Internet. . Their movements were not restricted.

Chekalina, better known as Lerchek, has around ten million followers on Instagram* (owned by Meta, whose activities are banned in Russia as extremist). Her husband is her partner in this business.