The court imposed a fine of 375,000 rubles on businessman Vladimir Tyurin for trying to take $20,000 in cash from Russia to the Maldives, which is twice the amount allowed for export without a declaration. The entrepreneur himself insisted that it was the total amount for two with his companion, necessary for a joint holiday on the islands.
An administrative protocol against Vladimir Tyurin about an attempt to take a large amount of cash abroad without a declaration, namely $20,000, was drawn up by the customs officers of the capital’s Sheremetyevo Airport when the businessman wanted to fly to the Maldives with his girlfriend. This happened on February 6, 2021. Tyurin had a conflict with customs officers after he left the VIP lounge with his girlfriend and proceeded to the green corridor to board the flight. The inspector’s protocol states that the money was found in the entrepreneur’s possession only after his belongings were examined.
Initially, the customs sent the administrative case to the Khimki court, but in the end it was redirected to the world district at the place of residence of the entrepreneur – judicial district No. 380 in the Presnensky district of Moscow. The materials on the businessman’s case were received there three months ago, and hearings began in January.
According to a Gazeta.Ru correspondent from the courthouse, Tyurin testified on his own. He stated that he wanted to fly to the Maldives together with his common-law wife Tatyana. According to him, for a vacation for two, they jointly took $ 20 thousand – the money was in his purse. Tyurin said that the amount corresponded to the amount allowed for export without a declaration – for two people. Two lawyers of the entrepreneur insisted on a similar position, citing an analogy with the transportation of alcohol by relatives or the total amount of other things. However, judge Sergei Kirsanov did not agree with these arguments and imposed a fine of 375,000 rubles on the businessman.
The businessman and his lawyers, referring to the testimony of a witness-witness, also claim that when he stopped at the post, Tyurin immediately notified the inspectors about the amount of cash available for two people. However, according to lawyers, Tyurin and his common-law wife were separated from each other, an administrative protocol was drawn up against the businessman under Article 16.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (Non-declaring cash by individuals) and the excess of $ 10,000 was seized for transportation without a declaration.
Representatives of the businessman’s defense insist that the customs officers tried to get $5,000 from him “on the spot”, but he went on principle, having missed his flight.
“According to established practice, Tyurin repeatedly flew [с такой же суммой] and told other customs inspectors that they had the nth amount, which does not exceed $20,000 with his wife, and other customs inspectors reacted normally,” lawyer Alexei Ivanov said.
Asking to cancel the protocol, the lawyers pointed to the uncertainties of the customs legislation, noting that, in accordance with the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union, citizens can carry no more than $ 10 thousand without a declaration, but at the same time, the law lacks “any by-laws, recommendations, methodological clarifications, including clarifications from customs officers” at airports, which leads to different interpretations of situations with the carriage of cash.
Tyurin’s common-law wife did not testify in court. The customs inspector, who drew up a report on the businessman, did not come to the meeting either.
The administrative article imputed to the entrepreneur assumes punishment in the form of a fine ranging from one-half to two times the undeclared amount of cash. The court found Tyurin guilty and sentenced him to the lower bar.
“To recognize Tyurin Vladimir Anatolyevich guilty of committing an administrative offense under Article 16.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, and to impose an administrative penalty on him in the form of an administrative fine in the amount of 375 thousand 553 rubles 50 kopecks,” Judge Kirsanov ruled on Friday, noting that
the interpretation of the law on the distribution of property when transported across the border to family members applies exclusively to close relatives, which do not include a common-law wife.
Businessman Vladimir Tyurin is notorious.
In 2017, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine called him a “criminal authority controlled by the FSB of Russia” and the “actual customer” of the murder of former Russian State Duma deputy Denis Voronenkov, who was shot by a killer in the center of Kyiv in March 2017. One of Tyurin’s motives, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, was personal reasons: Voronenkov’s widow, Russian opera singer Maria Maksakova was previously Tyurin’s common-law wife and has children in common with him.
In the same 2017, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against Tyurin, this list also included a dozen crime bosses, who were combined into the “Brotherly Circle” by the sanctions list.
In addition, Maksakova herself twice applied to the law enforcement agencies of Russia with a demand to initiate a criminal case against Tyurin, including under the article on occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy (“thief in law”), but she was refused. The singer also made a statement to the law enforcement officers of Spain, according to his lawyers. In 2006, the Spanish authorities had claims against the entrepreneur. The Russian media also point to Tyurin’s criminal past, noting his close relationship with such authorities as Yaponchik, Ded Khasan and Sharko Molodoy.