Kazan Travel Agency Probed for Fraud, Keeps Selling Tours

The Interior Ministry of Tatarstan has opened a criminal fraud case (Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code) following an inspection of the scandal-hit Kazan travel agency Belka Letyaga, which deceived dozens of tourists. The republic«s ministry press service told a 116.RU correspondent about this. Despite the investigation and the fact that not all victims have received their money back, the travel agency continues to operate. Here are the details.

«If you have no claims, the state now does»

The first complaints about Belka Letyaga«s actions began reaching police back in May, and in total more than 60 people contacted the ministry. Almost all of those who paid for tours through a bank were eventually able to cancel the transaction and get their money back.

But clients who brought cash for tours are still left with nothing: they neither went on holiday nor got their money back.

One of the affected Belka Letyaga clients, whose bank had already contested the transaction and returned her money, told our publication that she was recently summoned to an investigator. The woman asked not to be named.

«I went to the investigator and gave testimony. I even wanted to withdraw my statement, since the money was returned. But they told me it wouldn»t change anything now: «if you have no claims, the state now does.» We keep in touch with other victims, everyone is going to give testimony,« our source said.

Other would-be tourists share similar accounts in the victims« chat.

«I could make excuses, but I keep working»

Yelena Makarchuk herself continues to work. Belka Letyaga«s social media are full of holiday offers for every taste: Turkey, Asia in late November and even Uzbekistan. However, Makarchuk has blocked the ability to take screenshots in her channels on Telegram and MAX.

Her channel on the banned network, by contrast, does allow screenshots, though it contains less information than her other social media. These are the latest posts on the page, made just two days ago.

At the same time, Yelena does not hush up her problems with the law and clients, but notes that she too is a victim of supposedly negligent employees.

Makarchuk published her last big post on the subject a month ago. Below is its full text:

«A month ago — debts. Today — 95% closed. Yes, in early June we had a cash gap. Yes, I admit: as a manager I made a mistake, a number of mistakes, and I will tell you about all of them in detail. But I did not wait, did not step aside and did not close my eyes. I took the situation under control. And in just one month we returned 95% of all funds to our tourists. I could have made excuses with a pile of Reels, but I chose to work. And I succeeded. The remaining 5% is also a matter of time.

I continue to make quality selections, take wishes into account, and look for the best options. And for those tourists who stayed with me to the end through this difficult period, there are now special conditions.

And another important point: I no longer handle the financial side of the work myself. We have restructured our processes so that all payments are transparent and safe. So that you can be calm: the money is under reliable control, and I am fully focused on what I do best: organizing your perfect holiday.

Thank you for being with me during this period. We have come out of the situation stronger. Moving on.

And soon you will learn how it all happened. And who is really an honest travel agent and who creates an appearance,« Makarchuk wrote in the Belka Letyaga channel.

We note that in all cases of refunds to affected clients, only chargebacks were involved. Several of our sources left without holidays confirmed the same information: in private messages, Makarchuk said that to get money back one had to contact the bank through which the payment was made — supposedly the shortest route.

«I filed a statement with my bank to cancel the transaction. It was difficult, but the bank returned everything to me. How it did so — directly from Makarchuk»s accounts, or from its own money and then recovering it from her separately — is not my concern,« one of our sources explained.

We tried several times to get a comment from Yelena Makarchuk, but the journalist was unable to reach her. However, when we wrote to her from another account posing as a new client, a reply was not long in coming.

An audit report or a worthless scrap of paper?

Another interesting nuance is the audit report. Or rather, what Belka Letyaga is trying to pass off as one on social media. On the very same day the post above was published, a document appeared there purporting to be an audit report. According to it, the company«s net assets are normal, its indicators are stable, and the situation is under control: the risk of losing business continuity is low.

Below we reproduce the first and last pages of the document, because this is important. The full file can be viewed on the company«s social media.

The first thing that stands out is the absence of any information about who conducted the audit. Next — no seal or signature, which of course should be present in any official document.

Another point worth noting is the name of the legal entity. The company headed by Makarchuk is called OOO Belka Letyaga. This follows from data in the Kontur.Fokus service.

But the company named in the supposed audit report is OOO Belka-Letyaga. It may seem like just a hyphen, but when it comes to financial reporting, even such details are extremely important. And we note: a legal entity called OOO Belka-Letyaga (that is, with a hyphen) simply does not exist, according to the same Kontur.Fokus data.

We turned for clarification to the auditing firm Balans-Audit, which has long operated in the market. A company expert drew attention to several more points that distinguish the attached «document» from an official audit report.

«The report must include the parties» details: the full name, OGRN of the audited entity and the auditor (indicating the SRO and registry number). It must set out the management«s responsibility for the reporting and the auditor»s responsibility for expressing an opinion,« the expert explained.

She also said that, besides the signatures of the general director and the head of the audit, the latter«s qualification certificate must be indicated. The attached document does not have it.

«This looks like death throes»

Meanwhile, travel agents who have long worked in Kazan and are familiar with Yelena Makarchuk«s activities are surprised at how she is selling tours.

«After the scandal, tour operators stopped working with her too, and her accounts were blocked. I don»t understand how she is booking tours (booking and paying for tours with a tour operator. — Ed.),« one Kazan agent, Natalya, told us.

According to her, tour operators usually play it safe and do not resume work with agents who have already caused problems.

«There are options that Lena could be booking tours through some acquaintances in the industry who still trust her. Or she could have opened accounts in the name of one of her people: her husband or a girlfriend. And she arranges everything that way. In any case, this looks like death throes,» the agent noted.

The fact that the company is going through hard times is also clear from the Kontur.Fokus service. It notes, for example, a tax authority decision to impose restrictions on operations on the organization«s bank accounts. The company also has debts to the Federal Tax Service for taxes and levies: a little more than 100,000 rubles (about $1,300 at current rates).

Over the past year, Belka Letyaga has appeared in court proceedings as a defendant three times, with the total amount of claims exceeding 2 million rubles (about $25,600 at current rates): a third of last year«s revenue.

Starting in May 2026, when the scandal at the company began to gather force, five unscheduled inspections were carried out there: Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) officials visited the travel agency four times, and the Federal Tax Service once. All the inspections concerned complaints about breaches of obligations: deceived clients had contacted the agencies.

At the same time, the company shows no signs of being a shell entity and no bankruptcy procedures.

And while Interior Ministry investigators interview dozens of affected clients, Makarchuk continues her work and sells tours to new tourists.