Apartment interrogation: Larisa Dolina gave her first testimony as a victim

People's Artist Larisa Dolina, who handed over 175 million rubles to fraudsters — savings and funds from the sale of her apartment — gave her first testimony as a victim in a criminal case. On November 19, she took part in a video conference at the Balashikha Court in the Moscow region. The four defendants, who are accused of fraud on an especially large scale, face ten or more years in prison, lawyers say. In parallel, the process of the illegality of the sale of the singer's apartment is underway — at the end of November, the cassation court will consider the case. Earlier, the court of first instance sided with Larisa Dolina and awarded the disputed apartment to her, but did not impose the obligation to return the funds paid by the buyer to the artist. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Larisa Dolina's first court appearance

On November 19, Larisa Dolina gave her first testimony as a victim in a criminal case of fraud involving her savings and apartment. The trial is taking place in the Balashikha City Court, but the singer spoke via video link, arriving at the Khamovnichesky district Court of Moscow — at her place of residence.

The People's Artist arrived at the meeting in a black minibus, accompanied by a lawyer and several security guards. She did not comment on the criminal case, but only replied to the Izvestia journalist that she "feels great."

The singer's car was allowed to drive directly into the courthouse, so the journalists waiting at the entrance were able to photograph Larisa Dolina only from afar.

According to investigators, in 2024, the singer, succumbing to the tricks of telephone scammers, lost her savings — more than 175 million rubles, and also sold an apartment in the center of Moscow.

The first hearing on the high-profile criminal case was held on November 10, 2025. The trial is being held behind closed doors following a petition from Larisa Dolina's lawyer, Ksenia Aparina. She explained that she and her client had received threats.

— Death threats have been made against Larisa Dolina and me. Unknown persons threatened to blow up the car if the criminal prosecution was not stopped," the singer's representative said.

In connection with the incident, the People's Artist and her lawyer were recognized as victims in another separate criminal case. The identity of the attackers who threatened them has not yet been established.

Housing lottery

In March of this year, Larisa Dolina returned through the Khamovnichesky court of Moscow the rights to the apartment, which she sold under the influence of fraudsters. A counterclaim is currently being considered by the new homeowner, the daughter of a top manager of an IT company, Polina Lurie. She is trying to prove to the court that she is considered a bona fide acquirer.

No decision was made to refund the funds paid by Polina Lurie for an apartment in the center of Moscow. In October, the woman filed another complaint — the hearing in cassation is scheduled for November 27.

Meanwhile, a flurry of criticism of the People's Artist rose on social networks. Larisa Dolina was invited to a show in honor of the birthday of the Housing Lottery, which is held by Stoloto, but later this information was deleted from the company's resources.

In the Telegram channels, where information about the star's participation was quoted, a heated discussion began — many saw this as a mockery. The actress was called a "housewarming thief," and someone added that "she certainly knows how to win the housing lottery" - sell the apartment, get it back, but do not return the money to the buyer.

"Is this such an irony? The whole country is watching how badly she treated the buyers of her apartment. A new term has appeared in Russia — "case Valley", and it advertises a housing lottery. How subtle!" one user wrote.

The post about Larisa Dolina's participation in the "They're winning!" program was deleted because Stoloto's social networks were attacked by bots, the press service of this lottery ticket distributor told Izvestia. They noted that the discussion of this topic is still available in the Telegram channel chat.

"Larisa Dolina is not the face of the Housing Lottery, but became a guest of the TV program as a guest artist - one of the issues dedicated to the birthday of the Housing Lottery. Larisa Dolina took part in the program "They're winning!", which was broadcast on November 16, 2025, together with singer Gleb Matveychuk, since the program format involves not only lottery draws, but also an entertaining show program," the press service explained.

Who is being tried in a fraud case

The defendants in the Larisa Dolina apartment scam are charged with "fraud as part of an organized group and on an especially large scale, which resulted in the deprivation of a citizen's right to housing." Dmitry Leontiev, Angela Tsyrulnikova, Artur Kamenetsky and Andrey Osnovy are in the dock.

As is known from the case file, in 2024, Leontiev called Larisa Dolina, posing as an employee of law enforcement agencies, and convinced the People's Artist that her savings were at risk. In addition, the caller claimed that fraudulent actions were allegedly being committed with the singer's apartment, which "urgently needed to be prevented." As a result, Larisa Dolina gave the attackers more than 175 million rubles, including 112 million rubles earned after the sale of an apartment in Khamovniki, although its market value was about 149 million. The singer transferred part of the proceeds to "secure" bank accounts, and handed over the rest to couriers.

53-year-old library employee Angela Tsyrulnikova was also involved in the apartment scam. According to investigators, the woman acted as a courier — she met with Larisa Dolina at the request of the scammers and took away her bag, which contained the bulk of the money for the sold housing. The bank cards through which the attackers carried out transactions belonged to Artur Kamenetsky and Andrey Basov. According to the investigation, they were assigned the role of droppers in this scheme.

Veronika Polyakova, a criminal lawyer and managing partner of Business Legal Group, believes that those accused of the crime against Larisa Dolina face up to ten years in prison.

— It is worth noting that the maximum penalty is imposed very rarely, since there must be a combination of aggravating circumstances, — she noted.

However, taking into account the multimillion—dollar damage and the presence of aggravating circumstances - actions as part of an organized group, the defendants may be sentenced to ten years in prison or even more, according to Albert Khaleyan, a criminal lawyer and partner of the Moscow Bar Association Vector Prime.

— Threats against the singer and her lawyer seriously aggravate the situation of the defendants. This not only leads to a closed format of meetings to ensure security, but also shows the court that the criminal group continues to act, trying to put pressure on justice," the lawyer told Izvestia.

Will Polina Lurie be able to return the money

The case of Larisa Dolina's apartment scam became a precedent, after which the courts began to massively side with former homeowners, Veronika Polyakova recalled. The situation has become a very clear signal for judicial practice, Albert Haleyan agreed.

"Courts are ready to prioritize protecting victims of telephone fraud, even if it affects the interests of third parties who have bought real estate," the expert noted. — This is not a distortion, but a reaction of the legal system to a new, massive threat. After such a high-profile case, the number of lawsuits from defrauded owners with similar stories will increase, and the courts will look at them taking into account the current trend.

At the same time, each case will be considered individually, with a thorough check of the buyer's integrity, the lawyer added. The civil dispute, he said, follows its own rules, separate from the criminal case.

— This is the most difficult and painful node of the whole story. Polina Lurie's chances of getting the money back for the purchase of an apartment depend on one key factor: whether she is finally recognized as a bona fide buyer. If so, she has the right to demand from Larisa Dolina a refund of the entire amount paid for the apartment. However, there is a problem here: the victims, as a rule, no longer have this money — they were stolen by fraudsters," said lawyer Albert Haleyan.

He noted that foreclosure can be levied on other property, but the process will be long and complicated.

"If the courts conclude that Polina Lurie was not a bona fide buyer, then her chances of getting the money back tend to zero," the expert said. — In this case, she will be forced to make all claims against scammers, who no longer have the means to recover.

The account of problematic housing transactions, in which pensioners allegedly deceived by intruders return real estate, but do not give money to buyers, went into the hundreds, Izvestia wrote earlier. As a solution to the problem, the Federal Chamber of Notaries proposed to consolidate the principle of irrevocability of entries in the Unified State Register of Real Estate (EGRN). A prerequisite for such a "reinforced concrete" record should be mandatory notarization of the transaction, the notary chamber told Izvestia.