The case of the blogger Hasanov. Why did the author of "Thinking of a millionaire" get a real sentence?

The Presnensky District Court of Moscow sentenced blogger Huseyn Hasanov in absentia to four years in a general regime penal colony in the case of money laundering. He was also fined 1 million rubles and turned his property into state revenue. The court found Hasanov guilty of tax evasion amounting to millions of rubles. The blogger is currently on the wanted list. What you need to know about the blogger's case is in the Izvestia article.

Real time

• On August 4, 2026, the Presnensky District Court sentenced blogger Huseyn Hasanov in absentia to four years in a penal colony and a fine of 1 million rubles in the case of money laundering. The court also decided to convert non-residential premises in the Presnensky district of Moscow worth 46 million rubles into state revenue. The term of punishment will begin to be calculated after detention or extradition. At the same time, the prosecutor's office asked for six years in prison.

• Hasanov was found guilty under Article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigation found that, working as an individual entrepreneur, he paid taxes at a reduced rate, which did not correspond to the real level of his income. As a result, there was a shortage of more than 170 million rubles. The blogger legalized part of the money through financial transactions and the purchase of real estate worth over 68 million rubles.

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Hasanov himself previously stated that the situation looks louder than it really is. The defense insisted on the absence of corpus delicti. Dmitry Kozyakin, the blogger's lawyer, also pointed out that the case should have been returned to the investigation to eliminate the shortcomings. After the verdict was announced, the defense announced that the blogger wanted to return to Russia.

Case details

• In May 2025, Huseyn Hasanov was put on the international wanted list, and the court ordered his arrest in absentia. The blogger was charged under clause "b" of Part 4 of Article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — legalization of criminal proceeds on an especially large scale. The maximum penalty under this article is up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million rubles. A particularly large amount is considered to be an amount in excess of 6 million rubles.

• The investigation finds that in 2019-2021, Hasanov did not pay taxes for more than 170 million rubles. According to law enforcement officials, part of the proceeds from sweepstakes, educational courses and sports forecasts went to his personal accounts and those of relatives, which made it possible to avoid taxation. According to the investigation, the blogger legalized about 20 million rubles through cash withdrawals and transfers. In 2023, the Safe Internet League asked the Interior Ministry to check Hasanov's activities due to possible fraud and online casino advertising. In 2024, the Federal Tax Service seized his property, including Chevrolet Tahoe and Rolls-Royce Cullinan cars, as well as a 123.8 square meter room.

Who is Hasanov?

Hasanov was born in St. Petersburg. He became famous for his humorous videos and pranks on social networks. While studying at St. Petersburg State University of Economics, he played in KVN, then briefly engaged in the family restaurant business, after which he moved to Moscow and focused on blogging. His audience now exceeds 30 million subscribers. In 2017 and 2018, he received the Blogger of the Year award and participated in a meeting of bloggers with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• Huseyn Hasanov created the online course "Millionaire's Mindset", in which he promised to help participants learn how to achieve their goals, increase income and get rid of loans. Critics believe that this course is an example of infocygianism.

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Hasanov has repeatedly found himself at the center of scandals. In 2019, he raffled off a major prize on social media, a Mercedes G-Class Gelandewagen car. It was won by a 17-year-old girl, but after receiving the car, it turned out that the car had several owners, had been through three accidents and was fined 9,5 thousand rubles.

• In the same year, the blogger was accused of dangerous traffic violations while driving in a convoy of 11 cars in Samara. In 2020, he was found to have 714 unpaid fines and was deprived of his driver's license for three months, and later ordered to remove the symbols of the Investigative Committee of Russia from the car. In 2021, Hasanov refused a medical examination after stopping in Moscow, received a fine of 30 thousand rubles and lost his license for a year and a half. Since September 2022, he has been living outside of Russia.