Russian law enforcement agents have pursued the operators of a crypto pyramid promising high returns. Following a scam similar to the Ponzi scheme, thousands of Russian investors were deceived in Russia, Russia’s region and elsewhere.
Russian Police Search for Crypto-Pyramid Organizers in Dagestan
Officers of the Russian Republic of Dagestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (FSB), and officers of the Federal Security Service have confirmed that they have identified people suspected of organizing a large-scale financial pyramid, offering victims up to 500% in annual profits from their investments in digital assets.
Forklog reports that the suspects were representatives of Yusra Global, according to Kommersant’s sources. In addition to Dagestan the fraud entity established offices in Kazakhstan, Central Asia and Turkey.
This publication shows that four Russian citizens have been detained in January by authorities. These are the people believed to be involved in the Ponzi scheme. Initial arrests were for only two months. In addition to heavy fines, the defendants could spend up to ten year in prison.
According to the report, fraudsters inflated digital asset values and distributed dividends from funds that were invested by pyramid participants. They bought real property and distributed the remainder of the money.
Preliminary estimates suggest the victims’ losses amount to 1 billion rubles, or more than $10 million according to current exchange rates at the time of writing, the Russian newspaper revealed.
The news about the investigation into Yusra Global comes after last year, when Russian authorities busted arguably the country’s largest financial scam since the notorious MMM pyramid in the 1990s.
Finiko is also responsible for the losses of as much as $4 billion. Its founder Kirill Doronin — a social media influencer linked to other scams in the past — and a number of his accomplices were arrested.
People from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet countries, EU members states and the United States were among those who made 800,000. Chainalysis reports that the pyramid was established in Tatarstan in Russia and received more than $1.5 billion in bitcoin within two years.
What do you think of Russian authorities targeting other financial pyramids that are related to crypto investment? Comment below.
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