Another 139 victims of the HAS financial pyramid, which operated across Kazakhstan three years ago, have been identified in the Pavlodar region, according to infohub.kz.
The financial pyramid operated in Kazakhstan in 2022–2023. Last year, a court found five accomplices guilty and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 6 to 12 years. At that time, 376 victims had been identified, and the total damage exceeded 2 billion tenge.
According to the prosecutor's office, the organizer of the group was a native of the North Kazakhstan region. Together with his accomplices, he attracted money from residents of Astana, Almaty, Pavlodar, Ekibastuz, and other cities. Investors were promised returns of up to 70%, which was the main way to attract funds.
However, after the verdict, the prosecutor's office continued the investigation and identified another 139 victims. Based on the new circumstances, an additional investigation was conducted, and the case was sent back to court. The prosecutor's office noted: "In court, the state prosecutor presented convincing evidence, revealed the mechanism of the criminal scheme and its consequences for the victims. Particular attention was paid to protecting the property interests of citizens and the need to restore violated rights. The court agreed with the state prosecutor's position: the guilty parties were sentenced to long prison terms."
Taking into account the new data, the total number of victims has reached 515 people, and the amount of damage is about 3 billion tenge. Some of the funds have already been recovered. The convicted individuals had property obtained by criminal means confiscated: apartments in Astana and Pavlodar, land plots, 18 cars, and more than 300 million tenge.
It is worth recalling that three years ago, the media reported in detail on how the HAS Holding financial pyramid deceived Kazakhstanis. A mandatory condition for investors was the purchase of household goods worth 180 thousand tenge. Part of the funds received was used to pay interest to investors, but the organizers convinced them to reinvest this money back into the pyramid. Most of the funds ended up in the organizers' pockets. According to the Agency for Financial Monitoring, contracts with investors were signed on behalf of Upgrade-AS LLP, Holding AS, HAS-Logistik, light-AS, and other companies. At the same time, the financial pyramid positioned itself as a company engaged in foreign economic activity.