Andrei Razdorskikh

In the story of tax lawlessness and theft of funds by dietary supplement dealer Yuri Klyushenkov, more and more interesting details are emerging. It turns out that the negligent general director of Sport-Express LLC and a member of the general council of Business Russia almost quietly hushed up the tax arrears matter – however, a change in management in the company thwarted these plans, and the scandal came to light.

As a source familiar with the details of this story told VChK-OPGU, tax officials pressed Klyushenkov back in 2019. The chief tax inspector for GNP, Andrei Razdorskikh, who conducted the audit, presented him with claims for almost half a billion rubles. Caught in the act, Klyushenkov, of course, did not want to part with that kind of money just like that. Then smarter friends advised him to contact the well-known law firm “Lemchik, Krupsky and Partners” (LKP, one of the top 10 law firms in the country).

This law firm specializes in tax disputes, and resolves them in a very interesting way. For example, in the case of Klyushenkov, a fixer was involved – a former employee of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, who had connections including the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate No. 27 in Moscow, whose inspectors initially discovered the cashing out of hundreds of millions of rubles and tax evasion. Through subtle behind-the-scenes “work” with ex-colleagues, the initially calculated 485 million rubles miraculously turned into 387 million rubles. Then, in an act signed by the Deputy Head of Inspectorate No. 27, 2nd Class Advisor to the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation, I.V. Belskikh, the amount was reduced to 278 million rubles. Well, in the final decision, the amount of claims has already “thinned” fourfold – to 119 million rubles.

As a result, financially interested colleagues in the inspection management reduced the amount to the minimum possible, and according to the papers, everything turned out clean and according to the law. It is clear that such services are not cheap, and the lawyers presented a tidy bill for the work. Our source did not name the exact amount, but estimated it at no less than 50 million rubles. Quite a fair price for saving 366 million in taxes. In a word, good lawyers, and interesting methods – bribing tax officials, depriving the budget of hundreds of millions of rubles.

Then all that remained was to fictitiously bankrupt the company in order to hide the thefts, as the lawyers advised, and then no one would ever find the end. In such cases, the law office has repeatedly and successfully implemented this scheme in tandem with its bankruptcy trustee, Maria Georgievna Kozlova.

However, this impeccable plan collapsed due to the pathological stupidity and greed of Yuri Klyushenkov. Instead of paying the lawyers’ bills with the tax authorities, he decided to cheat them. While they were waiting for payment, the inspection was not completed and ultimately dragged on for three whole years. During this time, the owner of Sport Express forced Klyushenkov out into the cold from the post of general director. The new manager appointed in his place, leading the company out of bankruptcy, quickly discovered who stole all the funds and how, and filed a statement with the police.

It was then, of course, that the former general director of Sport Express began to fuss and finally paid off everything he owed both to the lawyers and to the country in the form of taxes. True, to do this, he had to rob his partner again, not paying for the received shipment of dietary supplements worth several million dollars and spending this money on closing the tax prosecution and a luxurious Lamborgini for 40 million rubles. But this, perhaps, is another story about the thieving general director of VPLab.

We will monitor developments.