Rusfond doesn’t know how to return Zhanna Friske’s missing money
Zhanna's parents claim that all the money (more than 25 million rubles) was spent on her treatment
Photo: Evgenia GUSEVA
After KP’s publications about Zhanna Friske’s missing millions – the same ones that thousands of TV viewers donated for her treatment – Rusfond posted an article on its website.
Its meaning is this: 20,890,831 rubles that disappeared after the singer’s death. still not found. And we don’t know what to do next.
The heirs of the deceased have still not reported to Rusfond. And without this report, the fund's reputation and credibility suffered greatly.
Zhanna's parents claim that all the money (more than 25 million rubles) was spent on her treatment. At the same time, they refuse to present receipts and documents.
The father, Vladimir Borisovich Friske, states that he provided all the reports to the police. Based on these documents, the police concluded: no evidence of fraud on the part of the parents has been established.
But if so, why didn’t Zhanna’s parents take the checks to Rusfond?
According to the agreement with the fund, they were required to provide documents confirming the targeted nature of the spending. And what is not spent on treatment must be returned.
Instead, Vladimir Friske says: “I had already arrived at Rusfond to give them checks, but I realized that something was fishy in this organization and refused to provide them with a report.”
Stop. On what basis did he decide this? And why, if there is an agreement that is so boorishly violated, does Rusfond not go to court? And how do we understand the phrase that “there is something unclean in this organization”?
Rusfond does not seem to notice these accusations. Instead of explaining things to Vladimir Borisovich, albeit with a scandal, in the public space, the foundation, in an intellectual manner, confusedly promises: “to make every effort so that donations from TV viewers, transferred for the treatment of the popular singer, are found.” And the returned amounts will be spent on treating children with cancer, for whom it is a matter of life and death.
I wonder how he will do it?
“KP” has repeatedly contacted Rusfond with a request to give an interview on a resonant story. We asked questions orally and sent them in writing to President Lev Ambinder. All - no answer. And there really are quite a few questions.
Firstly, what kind of agreement is this that can be violated so easily, and most importantly, with impunity?
Let us remember that an agreement was concluded between Zhanna and Rusfond, according to which the funds collected by the fund as a result of donations from over 900 thousand Channel One viewers were transferred to the singer’s bank account. Of the almost 70 million rubles collected, a little less than half was allocated for the treatment of children with cancer (at the request of Zhanna Friske). The rest of the money probably went to Zhanna.
Dmitry Shepelev, the common-law husband and father of her son Platon, said that back in April 2020 he gave bank cards to Zhanna’s parents. At that time, there were 20,890,831 rubles left in the account. According to police officers, by June 15, 2020, when the singer died, there was no longer any money on her cards. Her mother legally (!) withdrew charity money from the account.
Secondly, what does Rusfond intend to do next?
Law enforcement agencies refused to initiate a criminal case. The prosecutor's office's decision to conduct an additional investigation yielded nothing. The police stand their ground: there are no grounds to initiate a criminal case. All powers of attorney are genuine, everything is legal according to the documents, no facts of fraud have been established. However, there is no public money.
Boris Friske's lawyers advised an audit of the accounts. And this definitely needs to be done. For the sake of reputation and trust of TV viewers.
Zhanna Friske's family repaid the debt to Rusfond
Zhanna Friske
The long history of the struggle between Zhanna Friske’s relatives and Rusfond has come to an end. As follows from the official message on the charity organization’s website, the balance of the debt was transferred to the account.
In addition, family members of the late singer were required to transfer an additional 60 thousand rubles in compensation for the state duty, which was paid by the fund.
“On August 2, an amount of 13,653,214 rubles was transferred to the Rusfond account. This money was collected by the bailiffs in accordance with a court decision in 2020: the singer’s heirs were obliged to return to the fund the remainder of the money collected for her treatment and not spent for its intended purpose,” the organization’s employees reported.
Zhanna Friske's parents lost in the fight with Rusfond
Zhanna Friske and Dmitry Shepelev
Neither Friske's parents nor Dmitry Shepelev have yet commented on this situation, but they actively shifted the blame onto each other during trials that lasted several years.
Let us recall that Rusfond transferred 25 million rubles to the pop star’s account, which were collected as part of the talk show “Let Them Talk” on Channel One, but only four million of them were spent. Later, the charity tried to return the funds, which it intended to use to treat other seriously ill people. But the singer’s family refused to provide documents confirming that the money was used to pay for medical services. In 2020, after proceedings, the court decided to recover more than 21 million rubles from Friske’s parents in favor of Rusfond. This money was transferred in several stages - the last of which ended yesterday.
Note that Zhanna Friske died in 2020 from brain cancer. The singer struggled with a serious illness for several years, undergoing treatment courses not only at home, but also abroad. Fans still cannot believe the death of the pop star, who was not only the leading soloist of the group “Brilliant,” but also built a successful solo career, performing such hits as “Somewhere in the Summer,” “La-la-la,” "Malinka" and others.
Zhanna Friske with father Vladimir
The star was in a civil marriage with TV presenter Dmitry Shepelev, from whom she gave birth to a son, Plato. After his death, the father took the child to him and creates obstacles in his grandson’s communication with Jeanne’s parents, as well as her friends. From time to time, Vladimir and Olga Friske come to various talk shows and try to reason with Dmitry, who, in their opinion, still refuses to show the boy.
Photo: Legion-Media, personal archive
Shepelev stole money collected for the treatment of Zhanna Friske
Information appeared in the Russian media that Dmitry Shepelev spent the money collected on the treatment of Zhanna Friske. It is emphasized that the singer’s common-law husband carried out transactions with money after her death.
As a representative of the charitable organization Rusfond previously noted, about 69 million rubles were collected for the treatment of Russian pop singer Zhanna Friske, of which only 11.6 million rubles were in demand. At the same time, 32.6 million rubles, at the request of the singer, were transferred for the treatment of 9 children with oncology. Thus, of the total amount of money collected, just over 25 million remained, the fate of 21 million of which remained unknown until recently.
According to the fund, only Zhanna’s relatives, father Vladimir Borisovich and common-law husband Dmitry Shepelev, had access to the funds, who still have not reported their expenses to Rusfond, but they declare their innocence and continue to blame each other. The TV presenter hopes that the investigation will sort everything out, and in the meantime, Father Friske is going to prove in court that it was Shepelev who managed the finances.
At the same time, dni.ru publication, Rusfond experts sent a request to the bank where Zhanna Friske’s accounts were serviced, and asked to submit a report on who, when and how managed the available money. And, as follows from the report, Zhanna’s father Vladimir Friske did not make any manipulations with the transfer or withdrawal of money. But the singer’s common-law husband, Dmitry Shepelev, after the death of his wife, made three transfers to accounts opened in foreign banks.
As the bank noted, before going abroad, rubles were converted into dollars. So, $170 thousand went to an account in one of the German banks, $104 thousand went to an account in a New York bank and $180 thousand to a Los Angeles bank. Thus, Shepelev transferred a total of $454 thousand, for which he did not account for, as required by the procedure.
Perhaps the funds went to hospital bank accounts, because the showman transferred funds to the countries where Zhanna was treated. The investigation has yet to find out all the details, so far they are only checking the data. If it is confirmed that the money was indeed stolen, then a criminal case will be initiated, which will result in a prison term of up to 8 years.
Experts insist on further investigation of this case in order to find out whether such organizations really exist, and if so, what kind of assistance they provided to Friska.
In this context, it is worth noting the fact that since a pre-investigation check of all the circumstances of the case is underway, Shepelev has not yet been summoned for questioning. Meanwhile, the investigation has already become interested in exactly what money Shepelev used to buy a house in the Istra district.
Reference:
In January 2014, Rusfond and Channel One announced a fundraiser for the treatment of Zhanna Friske, who was diagnosed with cancer. The initiators of the fundraiser stated that if more money is collected than is necessary for Friske’s treatment, then the additional funds will be used to help children under the patronage of Rusfond.
