More than 30 lawsuits have been filed against "Mrs. Nizhny Novgorod" and her former business partner.

      Lawsuits have been filed in the region’s courts against real estate specialist and beauty pageant winner “Mrs. Nizhny Novgorod,” “Mrs. Russia” Irina Tilnikova and her now-former partner Nadezhda Shabalina, who also did business in real estate. In the district courts of Nizhny Novgorod and the Bogorodsk City Court, the editors of pravda-nn.ru counted more than 30 lawsuits filed by citizens and banks in total, which are either under consideration or have already been satisfied. Some lawsuits are directed at both of them. People claim they handed over money for interest but ended up with nothing and intend to appeal to the Investigative Committee.

      The ruble question

      Irina Tilnikova, it should be recalled, has worked in real estate for more than 25 years, dealing with buying and selling apartments and houses, registering land plots, and later low-rise construction. She offered Nizhny Novgorod residents the opportunity to invest in the business and receive money with interest. Loan agreements were concluded. One of the lenders was Nizhny Novgorod resident Tatyana Sidorova.

      “Tilnikova worked with partner Nadezhda Shabalina. The agreements were arranged like this: borrower Shabalina, Tilnikova guarantor,” Tatyana said. “Everything went smoothly. I received the money. But the last time it was set up like this: borrower Tilnikova, Shabalina guarantor.” Tatyana then handed over 3 million rubles. The contract term expired on September 19 of last year, but the Nizhny Novgorod resident did not receive the money with interest. According to her, Irina Tilnikova several times proposed to extend the term, and in the end paid only 120,000 rubles.

      Tatyana filed a lawsuit. The Avtozavodsky District Court found her claims justified and recovered more than 4.3 million rubles from Irina Tilnikova and Nadezhda Shabalina. They disagreed with the decision, but the regional court left it unchanged.

      A suit by Nizhny Novgorod resident Alexander was also satisfied for more than 2 million rubles. Another suit of his for the same amount is under consideration. Both are against Nadezhda Shabalina.

      “She paid the interest regularly, but at some point she suggested re-registering the contract to Tilnikova,” Alexander says. “Allegedly my money is with her. I said I hadn’t agreed to that. I can only speculate what happened. Maybe Shabalina handed the money to Tilnikova hoping to get some benefit for herself. Or some collusion between them — I don’t know. Shabalina told me she didn’t have the money. She offered to pay 1,000 rubles a month. But that’s just ridiculous. Where is a thousand rubles and where are more than four million.”

      An ugly story: the holder of the title “Mrs. Nizhny Novgorod” suspected of multimillion fraud

      Investors do not rule out that their money went not into real estate but into participating in beauty pageants

      Alexander noted that he had to file lawsuits in one court and then another because, according to him, Nadezhda Shabalina changed her registered address. In his view, this is simply her way of buying time.

      Another Nizhny Novgorod resident named Alexander told us that he had signed a three-month loan agreement with Nadezhda Shabalina. He handed over 1 million rubles. Each month she paid interest as agreed — 40,000 rubles. But she did not return the principal at the end of the term.

      “She came to me with Tilnikova, whom I, by the way, did not know at all. They started telling a story that the money is currently tied up in some construction project and we need to wait, but they didn’t specify any deadlines,” Alexander said. “Then Shabalina proposed to re-sign the contract to Tilnikova because my money, apparently for some reason, is with her. Tilnikova transferred 40,000 rubles to me and offered to sign a supplementary agreement with her. But the return dates weren’t specified in it. I refused. After that I didn’t see any money from either Shabalina or Tilnikova.”

      Geography of the case

      There are victims from other regions as well. Mikhail Lutsyk from Kemerovo Oblast says he also handed Nadezhda Shabalina 1 million rubles.

      “She paid interest twice and that was it,” Mikhail said. “In February this year she was supposed to return everything. At first there were promises. Then she stopped answering calls and messages. I filed a lawsuit. It will be heard in the near future.”

      There was also Pyotr Zhukov from Rostov-on-Don. He hopes to recover more than 2 million rubles. The Leninsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod has already satisfied his claim.

      “I tried to resolve the issue without going to court, but Shabalina stated that she had been deceived by Tilnikova,” Pyotr Zhukov reported. “She says, until I get my money back, I won’t be able to return yours.”

      By the way, Nadezhda Shabalina gave the same comment to pravda-nn.ru: “I suffered just like the others. My losses are 9.6 million rubles plus my reputation. I found myself in a terrible situation. She presented herself as a successful agent and developer, showed me existing deals, allegedly had turnover and needed funds. I have my own business. People trusted me. That’s how I got caught. The money was given to her, I didn’t see those funds. I am very guilty, very ashamed. I didn’t see the person who would set me up like this.”

      “At the same time, as far as I know, Shabalina did not file any lawsuits against Tilnikova,” Pyotr Zhukov told us. “Her husband filed a suit. But what does he have to do with this? It seems to me this is all some kind of collusion.”

      A claim for 9.6 million rubles has been filed in the Avtozavodsky District Court. Tatyana Sidorova also believes this is a ruse. “Shabalina divorced her husband. If she files a suit against Tilnikova and Tilnikova returns the money, she will have to distribute it to those she owes. And if the money is recovered under Shabalina’s suit, she could say he is not her husband and not give her the money,” the Nizhny Novgorod resident suggested.

      An enforcement proceeding was initiated on Tatyana’s suit a month ago. According to her, the bailiffs placed an arrest on the defendants’ real estate and imposed a ban on registration actions with it. Tatyana expects the property will be put up for sale.

      The Nizhny Novgorod resident, like other victims, believes she fell prey to fraud. They plan to file a collective complaint with the Investigative Committee.

      “The lenders themselves are getting in my way!”

      Irina Tilnikova commented on the situation: “I said from the start: I will pay all lenders. But they are doing everything to prevent me from doing that, to make people not work with me. They spread rumors about me, drive clients away. One of the lenders even broke into my office and is holding my documents and belongings. Because of this two construction deals fell through. I wanted to sell a house and land, but an arrest was placed on the property due to the enforcement proceeding. My accounts are blocked. I’m thinking now how to pay for advertising to attract customers.”

      Irina Tilnikova assured that she transfers money using the details provided by the bailiffs in order to settle with the lenders.

      About her former business partner Nadezhda Shabalina she said: “She portrays herself as a victim, but that’s not true. As for the 9.6 million ruble claim, I did not receive that money from her or her husband. Shabalina misleads people. She closed her sole proprietorship. She is hiding from everyone. I’m not hiding from anyone. I will pay everyone I owe.”

      Meanwhile, another case had to be examined by the Sormovsky District Court. At the center of the dispute was an apartment priced at 11.7 million rubles. The court decision states that Irina Tilnikova acted as the seller’s representative.

      She received 11.7 million rubles from the buyer. From this amount, the seller was supposed to pay off a mortgage debt of 4.6 million rubles within three days. After that the buyer would register ownership of the apartment.

      However, the mortgage debt remained unpaid. Tilnikova’s representative explained to the court that she received the money from the buyer but spent it and could not transfer it to the seller.

      The court sided with the buyer — it obliged the seller to pay off the mortgage debt, noting that the seller did not present evidence that he had taken measures to recover the money from Irina Tilnikova.

      The decision has not come into force; the apartment seller appealed it. Irina Tilnikova declined to comment on this story to pravda-nn.ru.

      Yulia Polyakova Photo: Alina Malinina