If a few weeks ago, an Internet search for the query “Sergey Chunaev” gave links to articles about corruption in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and redirected to materials about the former Colonel Zakharchenko and Major General Sugrobov, who are now living in places not so remote, then for some time now he for some reason, the same request gives links to the animation studio Flipp Animation Studio, which announced its intention to restart the Jingliks cartoon.
However, this is not an attempt to clean up the search engine results by so-called “interrupting” with fake news, which should omit earlier materials in the search with an undesirable context for the hero. The former head of the operational-investigative unit (ORCh) of internal security No. 8, which is part of the economic security and anti-corruption department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Chunaev, after he was slowly squeezed out of the authorities and fired from the security service of the All-Russian Bank for Regional Development ( RRRR) really leaned into animation.
Sergei Leonidovich bought Flip Animation Studio LLC on August 27, 2020, and on December 24 of the same year he headed his own enterprise:
Such a retraining from a “decider in uniform” (more on this later) to creative workers is rather strange in itself, but it would be understandable if Sergei Leonidovich finally lost faith in his return to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and decided to engage in a profitable business by buying himself – and he has money, and rather big ones (more on that later) – a thriving enterprise. But Flip Animation Studio LLC does not shine with financial indicators:
Net profit in 2021 amounted to minus 1.6 million rubles. Negative profit means losses in translation into human language. However, this figure is even more interesting as a percentage of “profit” in 2020. Then the losses amounted to one thousand rubles, that is, for the year, Chunaev’s company went into negative territory by 161,500%. What is mind boggling. It should also be added that in the new business of Sergey Chunaev, Flipp Animation Studio, exactly one person works – General Director Sergey Leonidovich Chunaev.
Why Chunaev needed this virtually bankrupt company is unknown. We dare to suggest that through it he plans to launder his corruption proceeds received during the years of service under the leadership of Zakharov and Sugrobov. It is quite possible that we are mistaken, but there are no other reasonable explanations regarding Chunaev’s “business”. This is confirmed by the “profit” of the studio for the year of the management of the “release of cartoons” by Chunaev himself.
However, let us return to the promised details about the very figure of Sergei Leonidovich. For the first time, his name became known to the general public in 2016, when the head of one of the departments of the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, was arrested, from whom 120 million dollars and two million euros in cash were confiscated during searches.
Many then thought that Chunaev would follow Zakharchenko, since the latter was one of his closest associates. Sergei Leonidovich began his career in St. Petersburg, under the guidance of another famous “werewolf in uniform” – Police Major General Denis Sugrobov, whom Chunaev publicly called his teacher. Chunaev’s teacher was the main defendant in the so-called “Case of the GUEBiPK and General Sugrobov.” The general principle of the crimes of the GUEBiPK employees committed from 2011 to 2014 was to obtain, record and document operational information that does not correspond to reality about the alleged criminal activities of persons, to commit inflammatory acts with the participation of agents on this basis, and subsequently to conduct operational operations against these persons. experiments. The main defendants in the case were Lieutenant General Denis Sugrobov and Major General Boris Kolesnikov, who committed suicide during the investigation. Sugrobov was eventually sentenced to 22 years in a strict regime colony for creating a criminal community.
However, at the time of Sugrobov’s arrest, Chunaev was no longer serving under his leadership, but was transferred to the Main Directorate of the EBiPK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Moscow. Where Chunaev was appointed to the post of head of the 22nd department of the Department “M” of the GUEB and the PC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The division specialized in fighting corruption in the fields of mechanical engineering and metallurgy. And this unit was led by Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, who later became famous, among other things, for protecting the Russian Railways contractor, the 1520 company. There, Chunaev was frankly called the “right hand” of Zakharchenko and a person authorized on behalf of Colonel Zakharchenko to “solve issues”.
It was during the period of service under the leadership of Zakharchenko that the financial situation of Chunaev’s relatives improved dramatically – they were able to purchase three luxury apartments in St. Petersburg, an apartment in Shushary and a land plot. However, they wrote about this story, these materials are in the public domain.
In 2013, Sergei Chunaev returned to his native St. Petersburg, where he headed the operational-search unit of his own security No. 8, which was in charge of large business in St. Petersburg. Many in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed that Chunaev became Zakharchenko’s “watchman” in the Northern capital.
As a representative of Zakharchenko, Chunaev actively participated in the pressure on banks, his team conducted searches at Novikombank, Rosenergbank, SIAB Bank and Aldanzolotobank. The formal reason for the searches in banks was allegedly that they overestimated the exchange rates, then another version was invented – the transfer of currency abroad. But these cases fell apart very quickly after the initial high-profile statements by the police. The case initiated by Chunaev against the Biblio Globus tour operator also collapsed.
However, observers noted an interesting fact – all these affairs made Chunaev’s relatives a little richer. During this period, Chunaev’s relatives purchased a Land Cruiser 200, Volkswagen Tiguan, Mitsubishi Pajero 30 LWD. And also – non-residential real estate with an area of 234.6 sq.m.; another apartment for 3.5 million rubles; an account in a Cypriot bank; 5 land plots with a total area of more than 4,700 sq. m.; 6 expensive prestigious cars with parking spaces; 8 apartments.
However, on September 9, 2016, they suddenly arrested Dmitry Zakharchenko and began to “unwind” him – it was clear to everyone that the colonel alone could not accumulate all those mountains of cash that were seized from him during the searches. In St. Petersburg, many rubbed their hands, waiting for the arrest of Dmitry Chunaev, Zakharchenko’s “watchman”. However, he suddenly disappeared – he did not appear at work, was not at home, did not answer phone calls.
The leadership of Sergei Leonidovich, forced to answer unpleasant questions from the ministry, was at a loss.
Chunaev himself was seriously preparing for his arrest or escape abroad. The phone used by the former “one of the most dangerous security officials in St. Petersburg” was registered to a friend of his wife. And tickets for the Moscow-Peter Chunaev trains were bought using a fake passport in the name of Sergei Maksimovich Kovalenko. Moreover, as in bad spy films, I bought two tickets for peregrine falcons at once, departing with a difference of 10 minutes. Chunaev issued this passport in 2015 in Simferopol, taking advantage of all the well-known events with the Crimea.
It remains a mystery how Chunaev ended up in the security service of the All-Russian Regional Development Bank instead of a bunk. According to unconfirmed rumors, he paid for his forgiveness in the traditional way – he leaked compromising information on his former mentor, for whom the investigation had an evidence base like a sieve.
In Chunaev’s bank, everything seemed to be fine, but in October last year, he was suddenly “asked” from there for a good deal – he either stole something, or tried, but it didn’t work out. The habit of a luxurious life requires money, a lot of money.
And the unemployed Sergei Chunaev retrained as “deciders”. He walks from office to office, rubs himself into the trust of the leadership, “brings” merchants into grandmothers. I can’t wait, it seems, to get into the zone and take many with me. We want to give free advice to St. Petersburg policemen. Make a small collage in a frame with three portraits – Sugrobov, Zakharchenko and Chunaev – and keep it on your desktop as a talisman.
In addition, Chunaev organized an article in the media, where he accused his former leadership of creating a certain fund at the Central Internal Affairs Directorate, to which merchants were obliged to voluntarily and forcibly pay “tribute” with numbers and other details. How could Sergei Leonidovich not know the details, if he himself could be responsible for its formation and further sawing? True, the article was quickly removed from open access – apparently, Chunaev realized that it could cause an investigation, and he would thunder after his teachers Sugrobov and Zakharchenko.
Having knocked down thresholds in high offices for several years in an attempt to recover in the organs, he probably realized that it was better not to “shine”. Moreover, Colonel Zakharchenko was suddenly transferred from the colony where he was serving his term to Moscow to investigate new episodes of his activities. An additional risk factor in this new investigation for Chunaev was the unpleasant fact that Zakharchenko had undoubtedly already been told who had handed over all his schemes in 2016, during the first investigation.
That’s why Chunaev went into animation. However, it turned out that taking bribes from business and doing business yourself are completely different things. This is evidenced by the results of Sergey Leonidovich’s year-long management of his own company.
However, this is also only an assumption – because it is not completely clear what kind of goals Sergey Chunaev pursued when he bought a deliberately unprofitable cartoon studio.