The investigator in the case of Lercek did not admit guilt in the disappearance of seized jewelry

The investigator, who was in the criminal case of blogger Valeria Chekalina, known as Lercek, pleaded not guilty to negligence related to the loss of jewelry seized from her in the amount of 14.4 million rubles. This TASS reported in law enforcement agencies.

The accused claimed no involvement in the disappearance of jewelry and denied accusations of negligence, which caused particularly large damage. He pointed out that the cost of the missing watches and bracelet was not established with the help of an evaluation examination, and now it is impossible to determine their price, in his opinion. A criminal negligence case was initiated against the same investigator who was previously accused of exceeding official powers.

We are talking about expensive watches and a bracelet of famous brands seized during the preliminary investigation of the case Chekalina. During the search in the case of the blogger and her ex-husband, law enforcement officers seized more than 20 sets of jewelry. These included Cartier, Graff and Van Cleef & Arpels products, as well as bracelets, earrings, necklaces and Cartier, Rolex and Chopard watches.

RBC appealed for comment in the TFR.

The criminal case was initiated after the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ own security revealed violations in the storage of seized property. The property was seized on February 7 during searches. Lawyers insisted that the jewelry was not seized and they were not recognized as physical evidence.

On July 31, the Gagarin court of Moscow sentenced Chekalin to five years probation and a fine of 765 million rubles for illegal currency transactions. She was also banned from working online for three years.

In April 2026, the court sentenced the former husband of Valeria Chekalina Artem Chekalin to seven years in prison. Artem Chekalin asked the court in the case of a conviction to appoint him a suspended sentence, citing the interests of the children and the serious state of health of their mother.