The head of the structural subdivision of The Finiko, who had been on the international wanted list since 2022, was extradited from Turkey to Kazakhstan. The woman is involved in a financial pyramid case.
WHAT IS KNOWN
According to the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM), the head of the structural subdivision of The Finiko was returned from Turkey under the coordination of prosecution authorities. The National Central Bureau of Interpol also participated in the operation.
The woman had been on the international wanted list since 2022.
WHAT THE INVESTIGATION ESTABLISHED
The investigation established that The Finiko did not carry out any real entrepreneurial or investment activity. Payments to previously attracted participants were made using funds received from new depositors.
According to the investigation, this scheme created the appearance of profitability and ensured the further attraction of citizens' funds. As a result, over 160 million tenge of depositors' funds was attracted into the financial pyramid.
WHAT PROPERTY WAS FORFEITED TO THE STATE
As part of pre-trial confiscation, a land plot belonging to the suspect was forfeited to the state. Its value amounted to 221 million tenge.
The investigation continues. Other information is not subject to disclosure in accordance with Article 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
CONTEXT
In July 2021, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) officially recognised the The Finiko project as a financial pyramid.
In June 2022, the AFM department for the city of Almaty investigated the activities of a branch of the financial pyramid. At that time, more than 300 people filed statements, and the amount of attracted funds totalled almost $1.8 million.
It later emerged that The Finiko's activities were also being investigated in other regions. In September 2023, the AFM reported an investigation into the creation and management of a structural subdivision of the pyramid in Taraz.
In July 2024, there were reports of the extradition from Armenia of a suspect in the leadership of a Finiko branch in the Kostanay region. According to the investigation, from 2019 to 2021 she headed the branch, and around 40 victims lost over 167 million tenge.
Separately, the The Finiko story continued in January 2025, when an attack took place in Dubai on the co-founder of the pyramid, Edward Sabirov. A number of media outlets linked this case to a citizen of Kazakhstan, Yernur Almakhan, whom a Dubai court of first instance subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
