A woman who headed the financial pyramid scheme "The Finiko" and had been evading justice since 2022 has been extradited from Turkey to Kazakhstan. A plot of land worth 221 million tenge was seized from her, infohub.kz reports.
According to the Agency for Financial Monitoring, "The Finiko" conducted no actual business or investment activities. Payments to earlier participants were made using funds from new depositors.
"This scheme created the appearance of profitability and ensured the continued attraction of citizens' funds," the agency clarified.
As a result of the illegal activity, the suspect attracted more than 160 million tenge from depositors.
"In addition, as part of pre-trial confiscation, a land plot belonging to the suspect worth 221 million tenge has been transferred to state revenue," the agency clarified.
Earlier in this criminal case, three defendants were sentenced to imprisonment for up to 6 years with confiscation of property.
As Kursiv previously reported, in late July 2021, another founder of the Finiko financial pyramid, Kirill Doronin, was detained in Kazan. In Kazakhstan, a criminal case was opened against the company. On July 7, 2021, a pre-trial investigation was registered and launched in the unified register under Part 3 of Article 217 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan — "Creation and management of a financial (investment) pyramid, criminal group, with the attraction of funds on an especially large scale."
The company attracted citizens' funds on the condition of paying monthly rewards of up to 150% of the deposited amount. The minimum deposit was 500 dollars. According to data on the Finiko website, the number of depositors exceeds 165,000 people from various countries — Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and others.