The prosecutor's office appealed the verdict of the ex-partner of the Chekalins

The prosecutor's office has filed an appeal against the verdict of Roman Vishnyak, the former business partner of blogger Valeria Chekalina (Lerchek) and her ex-husband Artyom. This was reported to Izvestia on February 2 by the press service of the Gagarin District Court of Moscow.

On January 29, the court sentenced the man to 2.5 years in a penal colony and fined 500 thousand rubles in the case of illegal withdrawal of more than 250 million rubles abroad. Vishnyak fully admitted his guilt and entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement, stating that his testimony helped expose other members of the criminal group.

According to his testimony, Artyom Chekalin knew that the money was being transferred to the settlement accounts of a non—resident of Russia, bypassing the tax service - he was the organizer of criminal activity and led the financial and economic part. Lercek herself, according to Vishnyak, was engaged in advertising photography.

The criminal case against Chekalina and her ex-husband was initiated in October 2024. They, along with an accomplice, were suspected of illegally withdrawing more than 250 million rubles from Russia to Dubai using forged documents (art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

On November 24, 2025, the Gagarin Court of Moscow extended the house arrest of both Chekalina and her ex-husband Artyom for six months. Later, on December 1, Lercek pleaded not guilty to withdrawing funds abroad and noted that she did not understand the essence of the charges. In turn, the ex-spouse admitted that he was guilty of committing a tax crime, but had nothing to do with the withdrawal of funds from Russia.

On January 19, the court refused to return Lercek's jewelry and watches seized during the search.

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