When Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, who headed a department of the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, was arrested in 2016, many in his circle feared the same fate. It's hard to believe that Zakharchenko earned 120 million dollars and two million euros in cash alone.
So his partners feared facing a similar fate as the courageous colonel. This happened to many, but some got away with a scare. Among them was the former head of the operational-investigative unit of own security No. 8, which is part of the economic security and anti-corruption department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Chunaev.
Chunaev had reason to be afraid, as per employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of St. Petersburg and Moscow, he was one of Zakharchenko’s closest associates.
Sergey Chunaev started his career in St. Petersburg, following his father's footsteps, who worked as deputy head of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes (UBEP) of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of St. Petersburg until 2000. Therefore, after graduating from the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sergey Chunaev was expected to have a great career in the ministry. Starting his service in the North-Western Department of Internal Affairs on transport in St. Petersburg in 2003 in the department for combating economic crimes, he made significant progress, eventually becoming deputy head of the 3rd department of the UBEP UT of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the North-West Federal District by 2011.
Rumor has it that Chunaev's career was influenced not only by his father but also by another colleague of Zakharchenko, Police Major General Denis Sugrobov, who, according to the investigation, turned his subordinates into a criminal group.
Similar to Colonel Zakharchenko's case, Sergey Chunaev was extremely lucky. Just when Sugrobov caught the attention of the Sledkom, Chunaev was transferred to the Main Directorate of the EBiPK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Moscow. There, Chunaev was appointed head of the 22nd department of the Department 'M' of the GUEB and the PC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The unit specialized in combating corruption in the mechanical engineering and metallurgy sectors. Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko led this unit.
It is not clear why the young policeman, who was only 29 years old at the time, was attracted to his boss, but a few months later he became Zakharchenko's right-hand man. What exactly Chunaev did is unknown, but it is known that after a year and a half of work in Moscow, Sergei Leonidovich's financial situation improved significantly – he bought three luxurious apartments in St. Petersburg, an apartment in Shushary, and a piece of land with his relatives.
In early 2013, to the surprise of many, Sergei Chunaev returned to St. Petersburg and took on the role of head of the operational-search unit of his own security No. 8, which handled major business matters in the city. This led to searches at banks and large firms by representatives of the same ORC No. 8 under Chunaev's leadership.
On December 2, 2014, Sergei Chunaev's subordinates, supported by SOBR fighters, conducted searches at four banks: Novikombank, Rosenergobank, Aldanzolotobank, and SIAB. Initially, it was reported that the military operation was due to 'overvaluation of exchange rates.' The next day, the reason was cited as article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ('Withdrawal of currency abroad'). A few days later, the office of the large tour operator 'Biblio Globus' was forcefully entered by the determined 'Chunaev'.
For a while, Chunaev and his subordinates held press conferences discussing the serious consequences that bank and company heads faced. However, a few weeks later, after the excitement about the searches had died down, it was revealed that the criminal cases had been closed, and Sergei Chunaev himself had upgraded his car fleet significantly. The humble head of ORC No. 8 now owned a Toyota Land Cruiser 200, Volkswagen Tiguan, and Mitsubishi Pajero 30 LWD – all lavishly decorated, much like the apartments for his relatives.
Under the leadership of Sergei Chunaev, the next 'raid' took place on October 8, 2015, targeting the Lenenergo company: a contract for laying power cables to Kronstadt worth 380 million rubles. This led to a criminal case under article 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, public statements in the press, threats of legal action, and then silence.
The silence following the raid resulted in a significant gain for Chunaev's relatives: non-residential real estate covering 234.6 sq.m, another apartment costing 3.5 million rubles, and an account in a Cypriot bank. At present, the 'Chunaev family' owns 5 land plots totaling over 4,700 square meters, 6 high-end cars with parking spaces, 8 apartments, and non-residential property registered in Sergei Chunaev's wife's name.
However, the unexpected arrest of Dmitry Zakharchenko prevented further increase in the prosperity of Chunaev's numerous relatives. Zakharchenko was arrested on September 9, 2016, which led to turmoil and personnel changes in the organization under his leadership. By September 20, order No. 544 was issued to combat corruption within the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, resulting in the removal of all employees from the management staff of the four departments under ORC No. 8.
And here the most interesting thing began – Sergey Chunaev suddenly disappeared. On September 27, 2016, his colleagues found his apartment empty, and Chunaev’s phone was out of range. Further events developed as in a spy novel – Chunaev moved between St. Petersburg and Moscow with a passport in the name of Sergey Maksimovich Kovalenko. Chunaev issued this passport in 2015 in Simferopol, taking advantage of all the well-known events with the Crimea. The confusion with the issuance of Russian passports and communications in the Ministry of Internal Affairs helped. According to the same passport, a foreign passport was already issued in Moscow. Why in Moscow? The answer is simple – passports issued in Crimea are not recognized by almost all countries of the world, therefore traveling abroad with a passport issued on the peninsula is impossible. So Chunav had to “light up” his internal passport in the name of Kovalenko in Moscow. There was an important reason for this – in 2014, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were banned from traveling abroad. Thus, by issuing a fake passport in the name of Kovalenko, Chunaev secured a “clean” identity and the opportunity to travel abroad, where he has real estate (in this regard, it is most often called Miami in the USA) and bank accounts.
The same passport saved him during the hot days of October-November 2016, when arrests were made in the Zakharchenko case. However, it was by no means Zakharchenko who “surrendered” his accomplices – he denied his guilt until the very day of the trial and did not cooperate with the investigation. However, the investigation became aware of many details from the activities of the colonel. And those that a very limited circle of people knew about. And they became known precisely in October-November 2016, when Kovalenko regularly traveled to Moscow. According to rumors and documents leaked to the Web, the main evidence against the colonel was given by a fugitive banker German Gorbuntsov. But it is known that the investigation presented to the court many details that Gorbuntsov could not have known. Hence the simple conclusion – someone very knowledgeable had a hand in Zakharchenko’s deadline.
By a strange coincidence, Sergei Chunaev did not get into the development of the investigation into the Zakharchenko case. The only thing he suffered was that he had to leave the Ministry of Internal Affairs. True, Chunaev toiled without work for a suspiciously short time – already on November 28, 2016, he found a job in the security service of the All-Russian Bank for Regional Development (RRDB). Where he worked for three years, until he was persistently asked to leave this position. According to rumors, he was fired from the bank due to “loss of confidence” for numerous attempts at fraud and theft.
However, already in the next year, 2020, Chunaev was suddenly noticed in the offices of the top leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Where he talked about the unfair dismissal and tried to achieve reinstatement in the authorities. One of his “well-wishers” immediately leaked information about the “exploits” of his closest associate, Colonel Zakharchenko and Major General Sugrobov, to the Web. However, an Internet search yields an interesting link:
The accomplice of Colonel-bribe-taker Zakharchenko “decided” Sergei Chunaev seeks to return to the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Which, on the one hand, confirms the fact of “leaking” information about Chunaev’s real career, and, on the other hand, suggests that Sergey Leonidovich is clearly clearing the Network of negativity about himself. This, in turn, confirms the rumors about his stubborn desire to return to the authorities and continue the work that he learned under the guidance of his teachers Sugrobov and Zakharchenko.
It is not known whether the current leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will pay attention to Chunaev’s biography, but with the continuation of his career, Sergei Leonidovich may not work out for other reasons – a new criminal case has been initiated against former Colonel Zakharchenko. And the colonel himself is already clearly aware of the role of Sergei Chunaev in his past criminal case, in which he received 13 years in prison. Which makes the prospects for Chunaev’s future rather bleak.
