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- Property deduction: mansion and land are being seized from relatives of ex-judge Chernov
Property deduction: mansion and land are being seized from relatives of ex-judge Chernov
The ex-wife and two daughters of the ex—head of the Krasnodar Regional Court, Alexander Chernov, may lose their property - a house with an area of more than 400 square meters, a land plot, and office space. Chernov's assets had already been seized for 13 billion rubles earlier.: According to the Prosecutor General's Office, he secretly owned and operated companies, and invested his income in real estate and other assets, which he registered with relatives and front persons. And his ex-wife, being a notary, accompanied these transactions. The Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit against the property registered to Galina Chernova and other relatives of the ex-judge, a source familiar with the essence of the supervisory authority's claims told Izvestia.
What are Alexander Chernov's relatives accused of?
On April 17, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar will consider an anti-corruption lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General's Office against relatives of the former chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Court, Alexander Chernov. The supervisory authority requests that a residential building with an area of 436 square meters be converted into state revenue. a plot of land with a total value of 20.8 million rubles, an office space in Krasnodar worth 1.8 million and a number of other real estate owned by Chernov's ex-wife and two daughters.
In addition, the Prosecutor General's Office insists on depriving his ex-wife Galina Chernova of the right to engage in notarial activities. She currently holds the post of president of the Kuban Notary Chamber.
According to investigators, she helped Chernov hide illegally acquired property. According to the Izvestia source, in 1995 Chernova received the status of a notary, and in 2001, with the assistance of her husband, she became president of the Notary Chamber. Investigators believe that a conflict of interest has been present in Galina Chernova's activities since 2001: she contributed to the illegal enrichment of her family and affiliated individuals, violating anti-corruption restrictions.
In particular, fictitious transactions made it possible to hide the ownership of objects, but to maintain family control over them. For example, in December 2009, on behalf of Chernova, a notary controlled by her, Georgy Sidorenko, issued fictitious powers of attorney addressed to the head of Firefly LLC, the developer of the Alexandriyskiy Mayak elite residential complex in Sochi. These documents were used in the re-registration of apartments and parking spaces in the residential complex, as well as in transactions with expensive real estate in Gelendzhik.
The investigation found that Chernov's daughters, Elena Ryazanskaya, vice—president of the regional Notary Chamber, and Anastasia Shepel, judge of the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory, also participated in the schemes.
According to the prosecutor's office, the presence of loyal notaries in the leadership of the chamber ensured that favorable Draft decisions were made.
Who is Alexander Chernov?
Alexander Chernov served as Chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Court from 1994 to 2019. He resigned after a scandal with the head of the administrative board of the regional court, Elena Khakhaleva. In the summer of 2017, footage from her daughter's wedding appeared on the Internet — the media estimated the cost of the solemn event at $ 2 million, although the organizers themselves stated that they had spent 5 million rubles. Nikolai Baskov, Iosif Kobzon and Valery Meladze performed at the wedding.
In July 2020, Khakhaleva was stripped of her powers, and in 2021, fraud and forgery cases were opened against her. By that time, she had left Russia, and she was arrested in absentia. In January 2025, Khakhaleva was detained in Baku, and in March, Azerbaijan refused to extradite her to Russia. She is still on the international wanted list.
Chernov and Khakhaleva had not only a working relationship, but also a family relationship: his granddaughter married her son.
Alexander Chernov
In November 2024, the Prosecutor General's Office filed an anti-corruption lawsuit against Chernov and 11 other individuals and three organizations, demanding that their property be transferred to state revenue.
According to the investigation, as the head of the regional court, Chernov, despite the outright ban, secretly owned and operated companies, receiving undeclared income from them. In particular, he controlled the Dmitrievskoye agricultural enterprise.
Moreover, the change of ownership of Dmitrievsky occurred with the participation of judicial authorities. They, on Chernov's instructions, satisfied the demands for the seizure of the company's property. This paralyzed his work, and as a result, the former owners sold the assets at an undervalued price.
As a result, 25% of the authorized capital of the agricultural enterprise was issued to Chernov's accomplice Vadim Shestopalov and his wife, and another 50% to the mother of Chernov's roommate. And in 2015, this share went to her daughter.
According to the supervisory authorities, from 2007-2024, Chernov received dividends from Dmitrievsky's activities in the amount of about 915 million rubles. He used these funds to purchase 139 land plots and other real estate objects with a total value of 2.5 billion rubles. They were issued to front persons, including "phantom" personalities — Leontiev A. and Petrov A. Their passports were not listed in the databases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Registry Office. The series and number of Leontiev's passport duplicated the passport data of a completely different person, who was lost back in 2012.
Petrov's data was used to register a Mercedes CL65 AMG car used by Chernov's wife. Bank and gold and foreign currency accounts were also opened in these names. The transactions were certified by notarized powers of attorney issued by Chernov's friend, a notary from the chamber headed by his ex—wife.
According to Izvestia's sources, among other things, the ex-judge financed the construction of a seven-storey luxury house in Sochi, where he personally sold apartments.
As a result, the Prosecutor General's Office demanded the confiscation of 15 land plots and 35 non-residential premises, including a business center in Krasnodar, a 542-square-meter premium apartment, a first-line facility in Gelendzhik, a stake in the Sochi shopping center and three apartments in Moscow.
In August 2025, the Krasnogorsk City Court of the Moscow Region satisfied the claims for the transfer of property worth 13 billion rubles to the state revenue. And in November, the Higher Qualification Board of Judges stripped Chernov of his immunity.
What threatens the relatives of the ex-judge and himself
Galina Chernova, in this situation, may face being deprived of the right to engage in notarial activities, says Sofya Lukinova, head of the legal department at VMT Consult.
— A notary who is engaged in private practice can be suspended from work by a court decision, — the expert reminded. — Making fictitious powers of attorney for personal gain undoubtedly falls under this kind of professional crime.
Dismissal may also be initiated by the Notary Chamber for disciplinary offenses. In addition, law enforcement agencies may open a criminal case against Galina Chernova. For example, under criminal articles for fraud or abuse of official authority.
— There are enough precedents for depriving a notary of the right to engage in professional activity, — said Sofya Lukinova. — For example, in 2024, such a decision was made regarding a notary from the Nizhny Novgorod region, as he issued documents on the basis of which questionable financial transactions were carried out, and the notary did not notify Rosfinmonitoring.
Potentially, criminal cases may be initiated against Chernov, and under several articles at once, including fraud, abuse of office, forgery and even forgery of documents, says Konstantin Trapaidze, chairman of the bar association "Your Legal Attorney".
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