Moscow, Russia – Blogger Elena Blinovskaya, known as the organizer of the “marathon of desires”, was arrested on the morning of April 27 as she tried to leave for Belarus. She is suspected of tax evasion for almost a billion rubles and money laundering. Blinovskaya became the third blogger with a multi-million audience, against whom a criminal case was opened for tax evasion at the beginning of the year. According to the media, she may not be the last suspect. Russian media collected basic information about Blinovskaya’s detention.
How Blinovskaya was detained
On the morning of April 27, the Commission of Inquiry (CI) informed that Elena Blinovskaya was detained in a criminal case for large-scale tax evasion and legalization of funds received as a result of a crime (part 2 of article 198, paragraph “b” part 4 of article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the first article, a blogger can face up to three years in prison, and according to the second, up to seven years.
According to the Investigative Committee, Blinovskaya was arrested on the morning of April 27 in the Smolensk region as she tried to cross the border in a rental car. The blogger had plane tickets with him to another country. Two men were arrested with her.
The Investigative Committee released a video of Blinovskaya’s detention and a search of her home. Baza telegram channel informed that investigative measures are being taken at three addresses: at a cottage in the village of Millennium Park in the Istra district of the Moscow region, as well as at apartments on Paveletskaya Embankment and Shvernik Street.
Baza reports that after the arrest, Blinovskaya was taken for questioning to the Main Investigative Department of the Moscow Investigative Committee. According to a source from RIA Novosti her husband interrogate as a witness.
Mash Potatoes complains that the investigation will ask the court to choose house arrest as a preventive measure for Blinovskaya. The Telegram channel writes that the detainee has already started to confess.
Criminal record
The Investigative Committee claims that Blinovskaya provided “information services” on the Internet, using the system of “splitting” companies for this purpose.
“Blinovskaya <…> understated the income received and did not pay value-added tax and personal income tax in the total amount of more than 918 million rubles for the period 2019-2021,” said the ministry in a statement.
In March, Russian law enforcement charged two popular bloggers, Valeria Chekalina (ler_chek) and Alexandra Mitroshina, with tax evasion by selling paid classes and running marathons. Chekalina and her husband Artyom, who is also accused in the criminal case, the court in March chose restraint in the form of a ban on certain actions. In turn, Mitroshina, who is abroad, repaid a debt of 120 million rubles that was attributed to him, reported Source TV REN.
Besides, how reported the Moscow prosecutor’s office, more than 43 million rubles received as a result of tax evasion, Blinovskaya “legalized”. According to the Moscow department, with these funds, it acquired, among other things:
a car that later became her husband’s property, equipment for a business founded by her husband, and property for her husband’s sister’s business.
The blogger also paid for a concert by a certain artist at her house and “organized a festive event” in August 2021, the Moscow prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
In an interview with journalist Ksenia Sobchak, published in January 2022, Blinovskaya declared who does not pay “ten million” in taxes.
“Then it goes beyond numbers with big zeros. But I could be wrong in the figure, I swim a lot in it. My chief accountant is a close friend of mine and she knows the exact numbers, since she pays these taxes. But I know for sure it’s not tens of millions,” she said.
When asked which regime she used to pay taxes, the blogger said she “already switched to the “simplified regimes” a long time ago and pays VAT.
What happened before the arrest
A few hours before the arrest, on April 26, Blinovskaya spoke at the amocrm business forum at the VTB Arena in Moscow, where she spoke about building a personal brand. From the stage she, in particular, urged viewers to “enjoy any moment”. “This goat stands on stage and claims to have assembled VTB in one day. Doesn’t your body tremble at that time? These are your triggers. That’s what grabs you. That’s what it means you have too, if you don’t ignore it,” the blogger said.
By data telegram channel “112”, on the same day a criminal case was opened against Blinovskaya. Then she bought a plane ticket for Almaty (Kazakhstan), specifies the publication. The flight was scheduled for five in the morning, law enforcement agencies planned to detain Blinovskaya at the airport. However, according to the Telegram channel, “someone” warned the blogger in advance of a possible detention, and she decided to change her route.
On the night of April 27, Blinovskaya called Maybach with a driver and drove to Belarus, 112 claims. RIA Novosti citing a law enforcement source wrote that she was detained at the Krasnaya Gorka border checkpoint on the Minsk-Moscow highway.
According to Base And Mash Potatoes Telegram channels, there was a driver and a security guard in the car with Blinovskaya. Baza suggests that Blinovskaya bought a plane ticket to one of the CIS countries “to cover herself”. SHOT telegram channel with a link to the source informed that, according to one version, Blinovskaya planned to leave Belarus for Lithuania, which she had with her tickets to Tashkent.
On Friday, April 28, Blinovskaya was scheduled to perform in the Uzbek capital, Remarks Daily Storm on Telegram. On the official website of the iticket uz service, ticket sales for the event with the participation of the blogger have already been stopped.
Last post on Blinovskaya’s telegram channel was published on April 27 at 12:24 a.m. She talks about her trips to the theater.
“Special service” for bloggers
By information Baza, the Federal Tax Service has created a special department to control bloggers who earn more than 50 million rubles a year. According to the Telegram channel, the tax department plans to find out how much money they received in affiliate accounts and how much tax they paid. A Baza source said “no one pays taxes,” so new criminal charges against well-known bloggers may soon emerge.
In March, Forbes, citing sources, wrote that last year the Federal Tax Service began to massively check popular bloggers and agencies cooperating with them. The publication also talked about the existence of a special department to identify violations among wealthy citizens.
“There is one task – to identify arrears and replenish the budget. And who will be (among those who are checked) – a blogger, or a singer, or someone else, does not really matter, ”said a source close to the Federal Tax Service.
Vadim Bagaturia, associated with bar association Freitak and Sons, told Russian media why the tax department has gone after big bloggers and who else should be worried.
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