Influencer and businessperson in the beauty industry Valeria Chekalina Accused of dodging taxes worth 300 million rubles, but this is small compared to the 1.37 billion rubles real estate and the 3 billion rubles income from the Letique cosmetics brand. Learn about the Chekalins' business empire and why the stylist who the blogger accused of fraud is central to this story.
"I'm not worried about the new Instagram algorithms or losing promotion. I have my own audience, and I know how to maintain such high engagement, as I have been doing for 5-6 years," said Chekalina in a Forbes interview last year. The blogger, known as ler_chek, has 10.4 million Instagram followers and 692.1 thousand on Telegram. Her husband is a businessman. Artem Chekalin is also a prominent public figure with 4 million Instagram followers.
The couple married in 2012. According to Chekalina, her husband was the primary earner until 2015, focused on customs clearance of imported fruits and vegetables. However, his company went bankrupt after the ban on importing agricultural products from Turkey. Records show that Chekalin was the general manager of MT-Project LLC from 2014-2016, engaged in wholesale trade of fruits and vegetables, with the bankruptcy formalities completed only on March 3, 2023.
Chekalina started her Instagram page in 2011, initially posting about everyday life, food, workouts, and personal photos. After her husband's business failed, she transitioned to a "mom blog" and eventually ventured into fitness, which ultimately became a significant source of income.
Later, she began organizing weight-loss marathons, with one of the largest occurring in late summer 2020. Prizes included an Audi A3 and a cash reward of 3 million rubles. Besides focusing on fitness and nutrition, Chekalina also taught her followers about financial literacy in the "New Life" marathon and planned to impart investment knowledge. The price of admission for these marathons varies from 2,000 to 5,000 rubles.
In Novaya Zhizn, Chekalin claimed to have been born into a wealthy family but had to earn his own apartment. It's noted in the media that Artyom's father is a prominent businessman and official. However, public information about the entrepreneur Alexander Chekalin, who would have direct ties to the blogger's family, could not be found.
In 2020, Forbes ranked Chekalina 7th among the highest-earning Instagram bloggers, estimating her advertising income at $0.61 million. In January, she ranked fourth in the most popular Instagram pages by "Medialogy". Notable figures such as Ekaterina Varnava, Philip Kirkorov, and Valery Meladze spoke at the blogger's birthday party last year.
Promises and large houses
The Moscow Department of the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the Chekalins on March 7. They are accused of not paying taxes amounting to 311 million rubles. The Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office presented the charges. The investigation revealed that Chekalina established herself as an individual entrepreneur, opted for a simplified taxation system with an allowable income limit of 150 million rubles per year, and divided the fitness marathon business between 2020 and 2022. The income exceeded the limit, but Chekalina did not plan to switch to the general taxation system. Instead, she registered her earnings under her husband, his mother, Chekalin’s brother Arkady, and his wife Anna. According to Mash, since 2020, Chekalina managed to spend about 990 million rubles in this manner and underpaid the state by 329.6 million rubles.
According to the TFR, Chekalina evaded paying value added tax during the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2020, from the 1st to the 3rd quarters of 2021, as well as personal income tax for 2020-2021 for a total amount of more than 311 million rubles.
Authorities conducted searches not only for the bloggers but also for their family members. It was reported that the officers arrived at the Chekalins’ mansion, which spans 400 square meters, in the elite cottage village “Ilyinka Lanehouse” in the Moscow region. There, they found, among other things, 8 kg of pure gold with a 999th test.
According to the “Company”, bloggers are constructing another mansion of nearly 2.2 thousand square meters in the equally elite village of Agalarov Estate in Istra near Moscow. A similar house in the same area costs about 600 million rubles, but Telegram– Channel Shot, citing its own data, estimated its construction at 1 billion rubles.
Bloggers also own other real estate. According to the “Company”, Valery Chekalina registered:
- An apartment in Tolyatti spanning almost 210 sq. m (sold in November 2013);
- A mansion in the Agalarov Estate occupying 2.2 thousand sq. m (ranging from 600 million to 1 billion rubles);
- An apartment in the residential complex “Zilart” covering an area of 74.7 sq.m (costing approximately 30 million rubles).
To Artem Chekalin:
- Apartment on Serpukhovsky Val in Moscow with an area of 150 sq.m (approximately 60 million rubles);
- Two apartments on Dekabristov Street in the north-east of Moscow (83 sq.m, about 20 million rubles and 38. sq.m, 10 million rubles, respectively);
- A country house in Ilyinka Lanehouse in the Moscow region spanning about 400 sq.m (approximately 130 million rubles).
In 2018, Chekalina bought a Porsche Cayenne car (about 11 million rubles), which she sold in 2021. In the same year, she acquired a Bentley Continental GT V8 (around 17 million rubles). Registered under the husband:
- Lamborghini Urus 2021 (about 28 million rubles);
- Mercedes-Benz G-Class Amg G 63 2021 (about 25 million rubles);
According to Shot, Chekalin enjoys speeding and has accumulated over 400 fines totaling 500 thousand rubles.
Chekalins’ lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, told Gazete.ru that bloggers “are not facing any punishment.” He explained that a criminal case may be initiated against a person, or it can be initiated due to a crime committed by unidentified persons. In their case, the latter situation is occurring. Mikhail Mushailov and Chekalins' representative, Yulia Gromova, did not respond to the Company’s questions.
On March 7, the bloggers did not engage with followers and the press. The next day, Chekalin stated on his Instagram page that they had paid 1.5 billion rubles in taxes over the past year and a half and planned to settle the debts to avoid imprisonment.
In her stories, Chekalina expressed gratitude to her followers and also promoted her new product– Producer’s online course “PRO-launch with Valeria Chekalina”, where she promises to teach “to make millions of launches”, establish “correct thinking” and, with a psychologist, “address negative beliefs”. The basic format will cost 89 thousand rubles, premium – 120 thousand rubles, and VIP with a separate chat and mentor – 179 thousand rubles.
Billions in income and a company with losses
IP Chekalina takes full responsibility for online marathons. According to the most recent data available to the “Company”, her IP earned 150 million rubles in 2021.
However, Chekalina's higher earnings come from the Letique cosmetic brand. As they do not have their own production, the products are created in ten different factories under contract. Letique consists of two divisions: Letique Cosmetics and Letique Makeup. Letique Cosmetics sells skincare products, from anti-cellulite wraps to moisturizing masks, whereas Letique Makeup focuses on decorative cosmetics.
Legally, the Letique business is registered under Bee Fit LLC. In 2021, the company made 2.9 billion rubles, with a net profit of 657.7 million. The owners of Bee Fit are Valeria Chekalina (75%) and a certain Roman Vishnyak (25%), with CEO Artem Chekalin.
The Letique Makeup sub-brand is registered as a separate legal entity – Letik Makeup LLC, with 70% owned by Chekalin and 30% by Vishnyak.
The company earned 113.7 million rubles in 2021, with a net profit of 60 million rubles. Its CEO, Evgeny Kachaylov, participated in the 2017 Left-bank district of Moscow deputy elections. He had previously owned and managed several companies, but currently, Kachaylov serves as the general director only in Letik Makeup LLC and Letikbad LLC, established on February 21, 2023. It is probable that dietary supplements will soon be released under the Letique brand. Kachaylov declined to respond to the “Company”'s questions.
The demand for Chekalina cosmetics is largely artificially created, as stated by the Telegram channel “Price of beauty”. As evidence, the channel mentions that immediately after the launch of Letique, the blogger introduced the “Wheel of Fortune” – a perpetual draw with significant prizes, requiring the purchase of cosmetics to participate. The interface of the Wheel is designed like roulette, consistently encouraging enthusiastic customers to make more purchases. In December 2021, Chekalina even pledged to pay off the loans of ten winners.
As a result, many ads selling Letique funds have appeared, with some people spending their entire salary on Letique products in hopes of winning a promised apartment, only to sell the new cosmetics at a discount when they did not win, as noted by the Telegram channel.
Additionally, many of the brand's products are not original. Beauty blogger Olya RedAutumn found numerous similarities between Letique mascara and Cabaret mascara from Vivienne Sabo, as well as body oils and lipsticks resembling products from other luxury brands. Despite this, Letique's prices are on par with luxury brands. However, Letique decorative cosmetics are produced at the factory of the budget brand Alvin D’Or, with retailers offering prices ranging from 200 to 500 rubles per product, as reported by “The Price of Beauty”.
Apart from creams and masks, Chekalina also offers the opportunity to buy a Letique franchise, providing a 'shopping island' in a shopping center with a 6-month payback period. She promises a monthly turnover of 600 thousand rubles with no royalties. Those interested in a franchise must make a lump-sum contribution of 90 thousand rubles and prepare at least 1.19 million rubles as an investment.
Blogger Anna Cherednichenko highlighted the problematic nature of this business in 2020. According to her, Letique's management prohibited franchisees from holding promotions, while they themselves launched discounts and sweepstakes on the official website, leading to low margins for cosmetics. Cherednichenko emphasized the importance of Instagram ads from the founder, suggesting that without advertising, their brand would not be remembered. Additionally, she pointed out that the Chekalins did not consider salaries, taxes, and other expenses in their business model, leaving many victims across the country, as clarified by Shot.
At the end of December 2021, the Chekalins' business expanded further with the launch of lingerie brand Leani, led by Anna Chekalina and Arkady Chekalin, the brother of Artem Chekalin. The financial results of the brand for the past year are unknown, but according to Kompaniya's estimates, Leani's underwear sales have brought in at least 9 million rubles since its creation, excluding taxes and commissions.
Deal with investigators as revenge
The security forces' pursuit of the blogger family may have stemmed from a conflict between Chekalina and her former stylist Elvira Yankovskaya, who was accused of selling fake luxury brand products. Along with other victims, Chekalina filed a class action lawsuit against the stylist, estimating their collective damage at over 8 million rubles.
Yankovskaya denied her guilt, but the Perovsky Court of Moscow put her under house arrest on February 4, as reported by Super.ru. Just before the searches at the bloggers’ houses, Yankovskaya was released from house arrest, as noted by Mash. The author of the Telek Telek YouTube channel suggested that the stylist might have made a deal with the investigation. However, her lawyer strongly denies this, stating that the searches at the Chekalins and the court’s refusal to extend Yankovskaya’s house arrest are unrelated and under the jurisdiction of different departments.
Before the luxury controversy, in 2021, Chekalina and Yankovskaya established the Le Force sportswear brand (website preserved in the archive).
To do this, they formed LEA LLC, where the stylist served as the general director. There is only one person on the list of employees working for the company. The company has not yet provided income information to the authorities.
Overall, tax avoidance is a common money-saving option for bloggers selling courses, according to the author of the Telek Telek YouTube channel. It used to be openly taught.
Makeup artist Gohar Avetisyan, for example, employed a similar scheme, remembers YouTube blogger Victoria Yutubnaya, author the YouTube channel. The make-up artist had six websites for the same course, indicating different IPs in the payment details.
Conversely, the sources of the publication have differing opinions on the reputational consequences for the Chekalins due to their dealings with the state. Yutubnaya believes that subscribers who were previously unaware of the Chekalins' revelations will perceive this family differently, since in many public places where the bloggers had not previously appeared, “they are exposed as information gypsies.”
The author of the Telek Telek YouTube channel is more hesitant. As evidence, he cited the case of infoblogger Alexandra Mitroshina who was charged with a 200 million ruble debt to the state by the tax authorities last year. According to the speaker of the “Company”, the blogger sold several more courses, the income from which went to pay the fine and she continues to work. Based on his observations, some of the audience believes that the searches are just the beginning of a “warm-up” to a new course.
The author of the Telek Telek Youtube channel describes bloggers’ fraud with taxes as “cunning and permissiveness” as the main reasons.
– Telek Telek
And checks will not end on the Chekalins. A large-scale audit of the Federal Tax Service awaits several dozen more bloggers, including the author of the “Marathon of Desires” Elena Blinovskaya, the wife of rapper Dzhigan Oksana Samoilova, the founder of the business club “Transformer” Dmitry Portnyagin and others, wrote Telegram– channel “112”. Kommersant’s sources in the Investigative Committee told about the same.
As for the Chekalins, the head of the New People party, Alexei Nechaev, unexpectedly stood up for them. He stated that they “did not make a house and a car for themselves on government contracts and corruption schemes”, but “earned money themselves and spent it as they saw fit”, and in general “they are the very drivers of the economy that the authorities constantly talk about, not corrupt officials who should be ashamed. Nechaev promised to discuss this topic at a party meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. “Such family businesses need to be supported, not clipped on their wings on takeoff,” concluded Nechaev.
