Founder of Russia’s most notorious Ponzi scheme 1 person. According to Russian media reports, Finiko has recently been detained in the United Arab Emirates. A close associate of the crypto pyramid mastermind left the Russian Federation last summer as the scam collapsed.
United Arab Emirates authorities review Russian extradition request for Finiko’s top member Co-founder and high-ranking representative. was arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the 1990s, Russian portal Business Online reported Thursday. The arrest was confirmed by the Russian Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The 24-year-old German national has been in a Gulf prison since early September, according to publications. A Russian prosecutor told news outlets he was informed of his detention by a local Interpol bureau.Russia has already submitted an extradition request to the Ministry of Justice, which is currently being considered by the competent authorities in Abu Dhabi.
Zygmuntovich was placed on an international wanted list when Russian law enforcement launched a criminal investigation into a fraudulent investment scheme. Marat Savilov and Edward Savilov, two other relatives of Finiko founder Kirill Doronin, are in prison. From July 2021. The three men managed to leave Russia as the financial pyramid was collapsing.
At this time, Savilov’s whereabouts are unknown, and the exact circumstances under which Zygmuntovich was arrested are also unknown. However, sources tell Business Online that his two former partners may have leaked his whereabouts to security forces.
The defendants in the criminal case are Finiko’s other 22 people, including his top promoter. Among them are her two women, Lilia Nurieva and Dina Gabdulina, Finiko’s vice president and Doronin’s right-hand man, Irgiz Shakirov. Ilgiz Shakirov was arrested in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, home of the Ponzi scheme. Last November, Finico’s mastermind offered to testify against his 44 accomplices.
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, Finiko members and executives have attracted at least 5 billion rubles (more than $80 million) to the pyramid, but the actual total losses are likely higher. The money came from fraudulent investors from Russia and several other countries in the former Soviet bloc, as well as EU member states Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the United States.
Many of the victims were asked to send virtual currency to a wallet address controlled by his Finiko, a virtual entity. According to a report by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, Pyramid received more than $1.5 billion in Bitcoin between December 2019 and August 2021. This coin was sent as 800,000 deposits by people lured by promises of up to 30% monthly returns.
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