The Prosecutor’s office opposed the cancellation of the sentence of ex-husband Lercek
The state prosecution asked the Moscow city court to reject the appeals of the former spouse of blogger Valeria Chekalina (Lerchek) Artem Chekalin, sentenced to seven years in prison for illegal monetary transactions worth more than 250 million rubles.
The state prosecution asked the Moscow city court to reject the appeals of the former spouse of blogger Valeria Chekalina (Lerchek) Artem Chekalin, sentenced to seven years in prison for illegal monetary transactions worth more than 250 million rubles. This is reported by TASS from the courtroom.
“Against the arguments of appeals, we object and insist on our position, filed earlier [in the appeal],” said the representative of the state prosecution Svetlana Tarasova.
According to the prosecutor's office, the punishment imposed on Chekalin corresponds to the gravity of the crime and is fair. There are no grounds for changing the sentence, the prosecution believes.
Chekalin participates in the meeting by video link from the capital SIZO-2. He insists that the court of first instance incorrectly qualified his actions and they do not constitute a crime. His lawyer asked to cancel the sentence and acquit the convict.
Appeals are heard by a panel of three federal judges. Less than a month ago, the Moscow City Court postponed the hearing on Chekalin’s complaint.
Artem Chekalin was sentenced to seven years in a general regime colony on April 13, 2026. The Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow found him guilty of transferring more than 251 million rubles abroad on forged documents and imposed a fine of 194.5 million rubles. The defense announced its intention to appeal the verdict.
According to the investigation, from September 2021 to February 2022, Chekalins transferred money received from the sale of the Ideal Body fitness marathon to the accounts of a foreign company in the UAE. When making transfers, according to the prosecution, used documents with false information about the purpose of payments. The total amount of transfers amounted to more than 251.5 million rubles.
Chekalin acknowledged the actual circumstances of the transfers, but did not agree with the classification of his actions as a crime in the field of currency transactions. He insisted that what happened should be considered within the framework of tax law. Valeria Chekalina also took part in this case, but the materials in her respect were allocated to a separate proceeding due to a serious illness. In July 2026, she was sentenced to five years of probation and a fine of almost 800 million rubles.
