On social networks, the Chekalins loved to show fiery passions and true love. Therefore, the news of the divorce surprised fans. Photo: Valeria Chekalina’s personal page on a social network.
The short videos that this couple once posted in batches on social media are nothing more than pure grace. Beautiful, in love, young and fabulously rich. They hug, coo, kiss. Three cute children also usually appear in the painting.
Valeria Chekalina (also known as Lerchek), who became famous with fitness videos and later organized “money marathons” for millions of subscribers, was for several years among the most popular and richest Russian bloggers. But in the spring of 2023 thunder broke out: a 30-year-old woman was arrested. According to investigators, Valeria, using various frauds, hid more than 300 million rubles in taxes from the state, and then her husband Artem helped her launder 130 million.
They did not send the Chekalins to a pre-trial detention center (they still have three small children), limiting themselves to prohibiting certain actions. This meant that Valeria and Artem were forced to return to their place of registration every night and not leave the house at least until the morning. But the main thing is that bloggers were prohibited from using mobile communications and the Internet. And for the couple, who earned hundreds of millions online annually, this was a blow to their business.
As a blogger, Lerchek and her husband will share houses and cars worth 1.2 billion rubles. Photo: Valeria Chekalina’s personal page on a social network.
The investigation lasted several months. During this time, the Chekalins’ property was confiscated. To cover debts to the tax authorities, as far as we know, they had to borrow large sums from friends. After payment, strictly in accordance with the letter of the law, the criminal cases were closed.
On March 1 of this year, Valeria Chekalina posted a joyful photo of her and her husband together: “After 359 days, it’s all over! “Everything was left behind.”
But a few days later, she filed a divorce petition with the court, and he filed a lawsuit for division of property, which included the amount of 1,250,968,000 rubles.
Lerchek herself explained her decision as follows: “We experience stress in different ways. I tried to come up with as many activities as possible: English, speech therapy, dancing, gymnastics, communicating with friends. That is, to have something besides home. But Artem, on the contrary, did not want anything.”
DIFFERENT VERSIONS
Meanwhile, several interesting versions about the Chekalins’ upcoming divorce immediately appeared. We treated them with the famous lawyer Sergei Zhorin, who over the years has assisted in many divorce proceedings, including the most famous couples.
“It cannot be ruled out that they will actually get divorced and divide the property,” says Zhorin. – We find ourselves in a difficult whirlwind of life. Not all families can handle this. Remember during and after the coronavirus pandemic there was a spike in divorces? The families had problems before, but now they found themselves in the same apartment and quickly tired of each other. The Chekalins also had their movements restricted during the investigation.
By the way, if the criminal proceedings against the Chekalin bloggers had not been completed, another option could have been chosen.
There are precedents in which, during the investigation, those accused through divorces “get rid” of part of their assets, which after the verdict can be sold to compensate for the damage.
But the investigation no longer has questions for the Chekalins. For now.
Recently, the spouses showered each other with gifts: cars at the price of apartments. Who will keep the good now? Photo: Valeria Chekalina’s personal page on a social network.
WILL THE COURT BE CLOUDY?
The most popular version about the reasons for the Chekalins’ divorce, which is actively discussed on social networks, is that it’s all just a show. Over the course of a year, the family overspent and went into debt. All this must be returned somehow. Therefore, they say, they came up with an information feed to attract attention and gain new subscribers on social networks, this way they can earn more money from advertising. Then we can assume that the spouses themselves will in every possible way hinder the documents submitted to the court.
There is a first sign: the court left without progress Artem Chekalin’s claim on the division of assets. In a few weeks we will have to correct some errors and deliver documents.
– If the errors are not eliminated within the period set by the court, the court returns the application. And then the person has the right to file a similar claim,” explains Zhorin.
– Do you remember cases when famous couples divorced for public relations reasons?
– I had a case in my practice: a famous couple divorced for publicity reasons. It is necessary to maintain interest in the topic, give comments to journalists, and one of the parties began to say unpleasant things about the other half of it. After which this story turned into a real conflict and the couple divorced.
Divorce and property division processes can last for years.
– For how long will the Chekalins be able to divide 1.2 billion rubles?
– Here not only the quantity matters, but also the number of objects and things to be divided. If the property conditionally consists of a couple of buildings and several cars, this is about a year. And if we are talking about a large number of art objects, actions, etc., taking into account the evaluation, the process can take even five years. Let’s say that during the process of one of the divorces we had to buy several suitcases with wheels to be able to carry inventories, exams, etc. To the court. (Perhaps we are talking about the divorce of Yevgeny Petrosyan and Elena Stepanenko; the comedian collected an antique collection of several hundred items with a total value of up to a billion rubles. – Author.)
Specifically
Photo: Dmitry POLUKHIN
STOP AT ANY TIME
– How can the parties legally prolong their divorce?
– After the decision of the court of first instance, an appeal or cassation may be filed. It also combines both the division of assets and the divorce in a single procedure, entering several requirements. And then, let’s say, they will also include the question of determining the place of residence of the children. And this means guardianship, new exams, etc.
– Can they stop the division of assets at any time, without making a decision?
– The parties have the right to withdraw from the claim at any stage, for example, by concluding a conciliation agreement. But if there is no real dispute, the judge, of course, will not like that he was dragged into exhibition games. And then he can make a decision that is not convenient for one or the other.
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