The case of Lercek and her ex-husband. How are they judged for withdrawing funds in the UAE

The Gagarin District Court of Moscow sentenced Artem Chekalin, the ex-husband of blogger Valeria Chekalina (Lerchek), to seven years in prison. He was accused of withdrawing funds to the UAE using forged documents. The criminal case against Lercek has been suspended due to the detection of stage four stomach cancer. How the trial against the former star spouses ended is described in the Izvestia article.

How Artem Chekalin was convicted

• A criminal case against Chekalin was initiated in 2024 under Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Making currency transactions for transferring funds to non-resident accounts using forged documents"). The investigation claimed that Lercek, along with her husband, whom she divorced in the same year in 2024, and business partner Roman Vishnyak, transferred funds to the UAE from the sale of the Ideal Body fitness courses from September 2021 to February 2022. According to the prosecution, the defendants did not notify the tax authorities about the opening of foreign accounts and made transfers through contracts for the provision of information services. A total of 251.6 million rubles were withdrawn abroad.

• The trial involving Vishnyak ended in January 2026. He fully admitted his guilt and entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement. As a result, the Chekalins' business partner was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in a general regime penal colony and fined 500 thousand rubles. The verdict will be reconsidered in the court of appeal on April 20.

• Chekalin was under house arrest during the proceedings. At the trial, he denied criminal intent in his actions and stated that he had not provided forged documents. His defense asked to acquit the blogger due to the lack of evidence of a crime. In his last statement, Chekalin himself asked for a suspended sentence in case of conviction so that he could continue to raise the three children born in his marriage with Lercek. His ex-wife also sent a letter to the court asking for leniency.

• As a result, Judge Ekaterina Kuzmina sentenced Chekalin to seven years of imprisonment in a general regime colony. He was additionally fined 194.5 million rubles. Chekalin was taken into custody in the courtroom. After the verdict was announced, he was sent to the Moscow pre-trial detention center-7 Kapotnya. The blogger's defense intends to challenge the court's decision.

Why was the Lercek case suspended?

• Blogger Lercek was also involved in a criminal case on the withdrawal of funds and was supposed to be under house arrest from November 2025. However, at the same time it became known about her pregnancy, the father of the fourth child was her choreographer, the Argentine Luis Squicciarini. In December, Chekalina began having health problems, she underwent surgery twice, and one of her hospitalizations was related to the threat of miscarriage.

• On February 24, Lercek had a baby boy, who was born as a result of an emergency caesarean section. During childbirth, the blogger was found to have malignant cells, and she was assigned an additional examination. It soon became known that Chekalina was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer with metastases in other organs, and she was hospitalized at the Blokhin National Medical Research Center for Oncology. Squicciarini complained that the 33-year-old girl was denied a doctor's appointment while she was under house arrest.

• In March, Lercek's defense requested that Chekalina's house arrest be lifted due to her serious health condition and that the proceedings be suspended until she fully recovers. The prosecutor agreed with the request and suggested that the court separate Chekalina's case into a separate proceeding, as well as assign her a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions. The court heeded the arguments and stopped the criminal proceedings.

• At the same time, Lercek continued litigation over debt owed to the Federal Tax Service (FTS). A bankruptcy lawsuit was filed against her in connection with a debt of 173 million rubles. However, the blogger's defense said that 176 million rubles had been transferred to her tax account. After the audit, the Moscow Arbitration Court terminated the bankruptcy proceedings.

What other criminal cases did the Chekalins have?

• The criminal case on the withdrawal of funds abroad has already become the third for the Chekalins. They first came under suspicion in March 2023, when a criminal case was opened against Lercek for tax evasion, and against her husband for complicity in this crime. Then they were accused of non-payment of 300 million rubles through a scheme involving business fragmentation and the use of simplified taxation.

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• Shortly after, another criminal case was opened on money laundering on a particularly large scale. It was assumed that the Chekalins legalized 130 million rubles obtained by criminal means. The initiation of criminal cases gave rise to the seizure of the property of the spouses in the amount of 311 million rubles. At the time of the investigation, the Chekalins were on their own recognizance, and Lercek was deprived of access to the Internet.

• The proceedings in both criminal cases were terminated within a year. The couple paid 504 million rubles in arrears to the Federal Tax Service, after which they were cleared of tax evasion charges. The money laundering case was also closed due to the lack of evidence of a crime.