Participants in the illegal sale of theatre tickets received prison sentences of up to 8 years.

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow sentenced four individuals involved in the illegal sale of tickets to theatres in Moscow and St. Petersburg to prison terms ranging from 4.5 to 7.5 years, as reported on the website of the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia.

Alexei Kurinov, Yana Tagina, Yulia Charykova, and Vitaly Gashakov were found guilty under Part 4 of Article 159 and Part 4 of Article 180 of the Russian Criminal Code (fraud and illegal use of means of individualization of goods). Two additional suspects, Andrei Khartanyuk and his mother Irina Khartanyuk, were also implicated in the scheme. They are currently on an international wanted list and have been arrested in absentia, according to the official representative of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia, Svetlana Petrenko.

The group operated from February 2017 to September 2020, creating fraudulent websites mimicking those of major cultural institutions, using their trademarks without permission, and selling tickets at inflated prices. These institutions included the Mariinsky Theatre, the Bolshoi and Maly Theatres, the Theatre of Nations, the Russian Academic Youth Theatre (RAMT), the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and the Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival. The total financial damage caused to these institutions amounted to more than 9 million rubles.

Petrenko also stated that over 150 individuals were involved in the illegal activities, including IT specialists, call center employees in Moscow and Vladimir, ticket sellers, couriers, programmers, advertising managers, and system administrators.

The criminal case was initiated in 2020 after the Mariinsky Theatre's management discovered that tickets for its performances were being sold through counterfeit websites. According to an article in Kommersant from January 2022, the investigation identified businessmen Andrei Khartanyuk and Alexei Kurinov as the scheme’s organizers. In 2013, they established the ticketing company Simple Life Innovation, which initially sold tickets legally for performances, sports matches, and festivals. However, in 2017, Khartanyuk reportedly suggested creating fake versions of official websites to boost profits.