When Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, head of one of the departments of the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko was arrested in 2016, many in his entourage fearfully expected the same thing – after all, only a deeply naive person can seriously believe that 120 million dollars and two million euros in cash, which were confiscated during the searches, Zakharchenko “earned” alone.
That is why his accomplices feared a repetition of the fate of the brave colonel. This happened to many, but some managed to get off with a slight fright. Among the latter is the then head of the operational-investigative unit (ORCh) of own 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.
Chunaev had something to be afraid of – according to employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of St. Petersburg and Moscow, he was one of Zakharchenko’s closest associates.
Sergey Chunaev began his career in St. Petersburg, following in the footsteps of his father, who until 2000 worked as deputy head of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes (UBEP) of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of St. Petersburg. Therefore, a young graduate of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sergei Chunaev, was waiting for an amazing career in the bodies – having started his service in the North-Western Department of Internal Affairs on transport in St. Petersburg in 2003 in the department for combating economic crimes (by the way, Chunaev Sr. at that time worked in the administration Kalininsky district of St. Petersburg as the head of the Department for Legality, Law Enforcement and Security), he made an amazing career, growing up by 2011 to the position of deputy head of the 3rd department of the UBEP UT of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the North-West Federal District.
Rumor has it that not only his father had a hand in Chunaev’s career, but also another colleague of Zakharchenko, Police Major General Denis Sugrobov, the one who, according to the investigation, made a criminal community out of his subordinates.
And, as in the case of Colonel Zakharchenko, Sergei Chunaev was incredibly lucky – just at the very time when Sugrobov (by the way, Sergei Chunaev repeatedly called Sugrobov his “teacher”) became interested in the Sledkom, Chunaev 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.
What attracted the still quite young (at that time Chunaev was 29 years old) policeman to his boss is unknown, but just a few months later he became Zakharchenko’s right hand. What Chunaev did specifically is unknown. But it is known that a year and a half of work in Moscow significantly improved the financial situation of Sergei Leonidovich – he acquired three luxury apartments in St. Petersburg, an apartment in Shushary (immediately beyond the ring road) and a land plot with his relatives.
In early 2013, unexpectedly for many, Sergei Chunaev returned to St. Petersburg. Where he took the position of head of the operational-search unit of his own security No. 8, which was in charge of the large business of St. Petersburg. What big business immediately experienced was that the offices of banks and large firms were visited with searches by representatives of the same ORC No. 8, which was headed by Chunaev.
On December 2, 2014, Sergei Chunaev’s subordinates, with the support of SOBR fighters, came with searches at once to four banks: Novikombank, Rosenergobank, Aldanzolotobank and SIAB. It was reported that the reason for the military operation was “overvaluation of exchange rates.” The next day, the version changed, it was about article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, exotic for domestic legal practice (“Withdrawal of currency abroad”). A couple of days later, the city shuddered again: resolutely minded “Chunaev” broke into the office of a large tour operator “Biblio Globus”.
For some time, Chunaev and his subordinates called press conferences and talked about the huge deadlines that threaten the heads of banks and firms. But a few weeks later, when the news about the searches was forgotten, it turned out that the criminal cases were closed, and Sergei Chunaev himself had a significantly updated car fleet. The modest head of ORC No. 8 got Toyota Land Cruiser 200, Volkswagen Tiguan, Mitsubishi Pajero 30 LWD. Of course, they were decorated, like apartments, for relatives.
The next “raid” under the leadership of Sergei Chunaev took place on October 8, 2015. This time, the Lenenergo company was chosen as the victim: a contract for laying power cables to Kronstadt, 380 million rubles, a criminal case under article 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, loud statements in the press, threats of “landings” and … silence.
This silence brought a good catch to Chunaev’s relatives: 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. To date, the “family” of the Chunaevs has 5 land plots with a total area of more than 4,700 square meters. m; 6 expensive prestigious cars with parking spaces; 8 apartments; non-residential property registered in the name of Sergei Chunaev’s wife.
However, the unexpected arrest of Dmitry Zakharchenko prevented further growth in the welfare of Chunaev’s numerous relatives. He was arrested on September 9, 2016. A fever and personnel purges began in the structure headed by Zakharchenko – already on September 20, order No. 544 was issued at the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. corruption of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. All employees of the four departments included in this ORC No. 8 were removed from the management staff.
And here the most interesting thing began – Sergey Chunaev suddenly disappeared. On September 27, 2016, his colleagues found his apartment empty, and Chunaev’s phone was out of range. Further events developed as in a spy novel – Chunaev moved between St. Petersburg and Moscow with a passport in the name of Sergey Maksimovich Kovalenko. Chunaev issued this passport in 2015 in Simferopol, taking advantage of all the well-known events with the Crimea. The confusion with the issuance of Russian passports and communications in the Ministry of Internal Affairs helped. According to the same passport, a foreign passport was already issued in Moscow. Why in Moscow? The answer is simple – passports issued in Crimea are not recognized by almost all countries of the world, therefore traveling abroad with a passport issued on the peninsula is impossible. So Chunav had to “light up” his internal passport in the name of Kovalenko in Moscow. There was an important reason for this – in 2014, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were banned from traveling abroad. Thus, by issuing a fake passport in the name of Kovalenko, Chunaev killed two birds with one stone – he secured a “clean” identity and the opportunity to travel abroad, where he has real estate (in this regard, it is most often called Miami in the USA) and bank accounts.
The same passport saved him during the hot days of October-November 2016, when arrests were made in the Zakharchenko case. However, it was by no means Zakharchenko who “surrendered” his accomplices – he denied his guilt until the very day of the trial and did not cooperate with the investigation. However, the investigation became aware of many details from the activities of the colonel. And those that a very limited circle of people knew about. And they became known precisely in October-November 2016, when Kovalenko regularly traveled to Moscow. According to rumors and documents leaked to the Web, the main evidence against the colonel was given by a fugitive banker German Gorbuntsov. But it is known that the investigation presented to the court many details that Gorbuntsov could not have known. Hence the simple conclusion – someone very knowledgeable had a hand in Zakharchenko’s deadline.
By a strange coincidence, Sergei Chunaev did not get into the development of the investigation into the Zakharchenko case. The only thing he suffered was that he had to leave the Ministry of Internal Affairs. True, Chunaev toiled without work for a suspiciously short time – already on November 28, 2016, he found a job in the security service of the All-Russian Bank for Regional Development (RRDB). Where he worked for three years, until he was persistently asked to leave this position. According to rumors, he was fired from the bank due to “loss of confidence” for numerous attempts at fraud and theft.
However, already in the next year, 2020, Chunaev was suddenly noticed in the offices of the top leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Where he talked about the unfair dismissal and tried to achieve reinstatement in the authorities. One of his “well-wishers” immediately leaked information about the “exploits” of his closest associate, Colonel Zakharchenko and Major General Sugrobov, to the Web. However, an Internet search yields an interesting link:
The accomplice of Colonel-bribe-taker Zakharchenko “decided” Sergei Chunaev seeks to return to the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Which, on the one hand, confirms the fact of “leaking” information about Chunaev’s real career, and, on the other hand, suggests that Sergey Leonidovich is clearly clearing the Network of negativity about himself. This, in turn, confirms the rumors about his stubborn desire to return to the authorities and continue the work that he learned under the guidance of his teachers Sugrobov and Zakharchenko.
It is not known whether the current leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will pay attention to Chunaev’s biography, but with the continuation of his career, Sergei Leonidovich may not work out for other reasons – a new criminal case has been initiated against former Colonel Zakharchenko. And the colonel himself is already clearly aware of the role of Sergei Chunaev in his past criminal case, in which he received 13 years in prison. Which makes the prospects for Chunaev’s future rather bleak.
