Blogger Lerchek left the Letique brand due to 174 million rubles in tax debt.
Blogger Lerchek abandoned her cosmetics brand Letique due to 174 million rubles in tax debt and resigned from the founding board.
Under this brand, Valeria Chekalina produced all sorts of beauty products: creams, gels, scrubs, perfumed oils, and bath accessories. According to Mash, the businesswoman recently left the company “Bi Fit.” She founded it with her ex-husband, Artyom, and business partner, Roman Vishnyak. Initially, the blogger owned 75% of the brand, with a trusted person holding another 25%. Lerchek's stake later decreased to 37.5%, and she then transferred the entire stake to her ex-husband. It has been suggested that the Chekalins may have used this ploy to pay off Artyom's lawsuit.
After the “Wheel of Fortune” promotion scandal in 2023, customers began to abandon the brand: Lerchek promised a lottery with luxury prizes (a Mercedes C-Class, an Audi A4, and a BMW X2), but if people won, they only won new Letik cans. The blogger was accused of fraud and wheel-rigging.
The brand didn't take off any further—the company's revenue for the last year was only 3.3 million rubles. On January 29, Chekalin's partner, Vishnyak, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and a 500,000 ruble fine for illegally transferring 251 million rubles abroad.
