Russian prosecutors in Moscow have requested a five-year prison sentence for business blogger Dmitry Portnyagin in a criminal trial involving allegations of tax evasion and money laundering.
The capital prosecutor's office requested that the court order Portnyagin to serve his term in a general-regime penal colony, municipal law enforcement officials told Lenta.ru.
According to the official investigation, Portnyagin evaded paying more than 124 million rubles in taxes between 2018 and 2020. Authorities further allege that he subsequently legalized the illicit proceeds by transferring more than 91 million rubles into bank accounts belonging to third parties.
Two other individuals are on trial as co-defendants in the same criminal case. Prosecutors requested a sentence of seven and a half years for Portnyagin's wife, Ekaterina Portnyagina, while asking the court to impose a two-year sentence on the third defendant, Alexei Nikolaev.
Influence and Business Coaching
Portnyagin established a wide national following in Russia by positioning himself as a business mentor, author, and executive coach. He built a prominent online presence around commercial advice, corporate strategy, personal branding, and motivational lectures aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Financial crime investigations into high-profile internet personalities have expanded across Russia in recent years, with tax authorities focusing on digital creators and commercial coaches. Russian tax law requires individuals and business entities to declare all revenue accurately, with severe criminal penalties for hiding income or laundering profits.
Legal History and Next Steps
A general-regime penal colony is a standard medium-security facility within the Russian penal system, where inmates reside in collective accommodation blocks. In Russian criminal proceedings, sentence requests by prosecutors represent the final demand of the state prior to defense summations and the magistrate's verdict.
The current judicial proceeding follows an earlier attempt to try the case. Prosecutors previously requested a five-year sentence for Portnyagin in October 2025, but the court returned the case files to the prosecutor's office in November 2025 after identifying technical errors in the official indictment.
Following the completion of closing arguments by prosecutors, the court in Moscow will hear final statements before ruling on the charges and issuing sentences for all three defendants.
