The court imposed a fine of 375,000 rubles on businessman Vladimir Tyurin for trying to take $20,000 in cash from Russia to the Maldives, which is twice the amount allowed for export without a declaration. The entrepreneur himself insisted that it was the total amount for two with his companion, necessary for a joint holiday on the islands.
A report was filed against Vladimir Tyurin for trying to take $20,000 in cash out of the country without declaring it. This happened at Sheremetyevo Airport on February 6, 2021, when he was planning to fly to the Maldives with his girlfriend. Tyurin had an argument with customs officers after leaving the VIP lounge and heading towards the boarding area. The inspectors found the money in his possession during a search.
At first, the customs sent the case to the Khimki court, but it was later redirected to the judicial district where Tyurin lived. The materials for Tyurin’s case arrived there three months ago, and the hearings started in January.
According to a Gazeta.Ru correspondent from the courthouse, Tyurin testified on his own behalf. He claimed that he and his common-law wife, Tatyana, were going to the Maldives for vacation and had $20,000 together. The money was in his wallet, which he believed was within the legal limit for two people traveling together. However, the judge, Sergei Kirsanov, disagreed and fined Tyurin 375,000 rubles.
The businessman and his lawyers argued that Tyurin informed the inspectors about the amount of cash as soon as he stopped at the checkpoint, but they were separated, and an administrative report was filed against him for not declaring the money and exceeding the $10,000 limit.
The businessman's defense representatives claim that customs officers attempted to extort $5,000 from him, but he refused, and as a result, missed his flight.
“According to established practice, Tyurin had previously flown with the same amount of cash and had informed other customs inspectors about it, and they had reacted normally,” stated lawyer Alexei Ivanov.
The businessman's lawyers requested the cancellation of the report, pointing out the ambiguities in customs legislation, which lead to different interpretations of cash carriage situations due to the lack of specific guidelines and recommendations.
Tyurin’s common-law wife did not testify in court. The customs inspector, who drew up a report on the businessman, did not come to the meeting either.
The administrative article imputed to the entrepreneur assumes punishment in the form of a fine ranging from one-half to two times the undeclared amount of cash. The court found Tyurin guilty and sentenced him to the lower bar.
“To recognize Tyurin Vladimir Anatolyevich guilty of committing an administrative offense under Article 16.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, and to impose an administrative penalty on him in the form of an administrative fine in the amount of 375 thousand 553 rubles 50 kopecks,” Judge Kirsanov ruled on Friday, noting that
the interpretation of the law on the distribution of property when transported across the border to family members applies exclusively to close relatives, which do not include a common-law wife.
Businessman Vladimir Tyurin is notorious.
In 2017, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine called him a “criminal authority controlled by the FSB of Russia” and the “actual customer” of the murder of former Russian State Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov, who was shot by a killer in the center of Kyiv in March 2017. One of Tyurin’s motives, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, was personal reasons: Voronenkov’s widow, Russian opera singer Maria Maksakova was previously Tyurin’s common-law wife and has children in common with him.
In the same 2017, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against Tyurin, this list also included a dozen crime bosses, who were combined into the “Brotherly Circle” by the sanctions list.
In addition, Maksakova herself twice applied to the law enforcement agencies of Russia with a demand to initiate a criminal case against Tyurin, including under the article on occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy (“thief in law”), but she was refused. The singer also made a statement to the law enforcement officers of Spain, according to his lawyers. In 2006, the Spanish authorities had claims against the entrepreneur. The Russian media also point to Tyurin’s criminal past, noting his close relationship with such authorities as Yaponchik, Ded Khasan and Sharko Molodoy.
