Blogger Ayaz Shabutdinov pleaded guilty in a criminal case of fraud

Blogger Ayaz Shabutdinov, accused of fraud, pleaded guilty in a criminal case. This was announced on April 2 by his lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov in his Telegram channel.

The human rights defender noted that Shabutdinov took this step, despite the many proofs of his innocence.

"Yes, our client Ayaz Shabutdinov pleaded guilty to the charges. The defendant's decision is the law for us, even if we internally disagree with it. <...> This is his life, his choice, and we fully respect him. He made a difficult but courageous decision," he wrote, noting that the defense hoped the court would take into account this remorse.

Shabutdinov himself, on the eve of the court session, completely repented of what he had done and asked for forgiveness from users dissatisfied with his training on his social media page.

"It's my fault. The last year and a half has been a time of deep reflection and reassessment of values for me. <...> I believed that anyone can become an entrepreneur, and I taught this. But practice has shown that this path is not for everyone. At the same time, we sold our courses aggressively, indiscriminately. And the advertisement itself sounded like a miracle pill <...>. I sincerely apologize to anyone who has unreasonable expectations about the educational value of our programs," he wrote.

Ayaz Shabutdinov's case. How the blogger collected money from aspiring businessmen

Shabutdinov was detained on November 3, 2023 after complaining about the educational courses he had sold, and he was arrested the next day. The blogger is charged under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Fraud"). In October 2024, Shabutdinov's lawyer informed Izvestia about the end of the investigation into the blogger's case. In April last year, the court seized the coach's property.

The indictment was approved on February 10 of this year. Then it was reported that the damage in the case exceeded 57 million rubles. The blogger and his accomplices caused damage to 113 clients who paid from 60 thousand to 12 million rubles for his educational programs. The blogger's detention was later extended until August 12.