The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow received a petition to extend the term of house arrest for blogger Elena Blinovskaya. Information about this appeared in the court file.
The court hearing is scheduled for 10:30 on October 24. Duration of the previous decision on Blinovskaya’s house arrest expires October 26.
Blinovskaya was detained at the end of April while trying to travel to the territory of Belarus. The Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia charged her under Part 2 of Art. 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (tax evasion) and Part 4 of Art. 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (money laundering on an especially large scale).
According to investigators, Blinovskaya used a business “fragmentation” scheme to understate the income received from the provision of information services in 2019–2021. As a result, the blogger failed to pay VAT and personal income tax for a total amount of over 918 million rubles. She repented of her actions and pleaded guilty to the charges. Blinovskaya’s husband is also accused of aiding and abetting money laundering. The Presnensky District Court of Moscow chose a preventive measure for him in the form of a ban on certain actions.
On May 26 it became known that the investigation imposed interim measures for 136 bank accounts of Blinovskaya and her husband, and at the end of June – for another 35 foreign accounts. July 18 court arrested over 100 million rubles. in different currencies and funds in 50 bank accounts of the blogger. At the same time, the court imposed interim measures on 21 real estate properties, including Blinovskaya’s elite apartment in the capital. On September 26, the blogger’s lawyer Natalia Salnikova reported that the Federal Tax Service returned Blinovsky access to previously blocked accounts.
On August 9 it was reported that the court frozen 12 bank accounts and several current accounts of Blinovskaya. As part of the case, four cars, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, an all-terrain vehicle, a motor boat, a jet ski and seven trailers for passenger cars were seized.
