Russian prosecutors cancel criminal case against investigator over missing jewelry seized from influencer Valeria Chekalina

Update: Prosecutors have overturned the decision to open a criminal investigation into Nikita Tulupov, an investigator in the Lerchek case, TASS reported.

Some of the jewelry seized during a search of blogger Valeria Chekalina’s home has gone missing, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said on Telegram. Authorities opened a criminal investigation into one of the investigators in the case against Chekalina, who is known as Lerchek.

The jewelry “was not entered into evidence in the criminal case and was stored improperly, resulting in its loss,” Volk said. Volk said a criminal investigation had been opened into the investigator for allegedly exceeding his authority. She did not name him.

Jewelry from Cartier, Graff, Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex, Chopard, and other brands, worth a total of 14.4 million rubles, was seized during a search in the case against Chekalina and her former husband.

“Once the investigation was over, we asked for all the jewelry seized during the search to be returned, but the investigator refused, even though the jewelry is not physical evidence and no legal restrictions had been placed on it,” Chekalina’s lawyer, Viktor Dugin, told TASS.

Valeria Chekalina appeared on Forbes’ list of Russia’s highest-earning bloggers. In 2023, she and her husband, Artem Chekalin, were charged with tax evasion and money laundering. By March 2024, both criminal cases against the couple had been closed.

In October 2024, the Chekalins, who had divorced by then, came under a third criminal investigation, this time into illegally transferring funds out of Russia. In February 2026, Chekalina gave birth to her fourth child. In March, her partner, Luis Squicciarini, said she had been diagnosed with cancer. Shortly afterward, Chekalina was released from house arrest.

In July, Chekalina received a five-year suspended sentence and a fine of 765 million rubles for illegally transferring funds abroad. Her former husband was sentenced in April 2026 to seven years in a medium-security prison.