The apex court in Tatarstan, a republic of the Federation of Russia, has just upheld the warrants issued for the arrest of three co-founders of the Finiko crypto pyramid. This decision comes after a failed move to appeal against the arrest warrants issued against the top officials of the scheme. According to media reports, the co-founders of the large-scale scam in Russia are presently at large and have since gone into hiding.
Three Finiko crypto scam members remain on the wanted list
A Supreme Court in Russia has just upheld the arrest warrants issued in absentia for three men who are reportedly very close associates of Kirill Doronin, founder of Finiko. The wanted men are; Edward Sabirov, Marat Sabirov, and Zygmunt Zygmuntovich.
This is not the first time Doronin has been linked to fraudulent schemes and the Instagram influencer was arrested back in July. Earlier this month also, authorities rounded up the firm’s vice president, Ilgiz Shakirov, alongside two females who are reported to have lured thousands of victims with the promises of unbelievable returns.
The Sabirov brothers together with Zygmuntovich, however, managed to escape the wave of arrests as they left the country soon enough. During the hearing at the court, the three suspects were represented by government-appointed lawyers who sought to overturn earlier decisions to pursue their arrests even internationally.
The defense attorney to Marat Sabirov, Gulnaz Nafieva, made her case during the proceedings. She insisted her client was already out of the country at the time that the criminal case was being initiated. This argument, however, did not fly as the court did not give in to her appeal to revoke Sabirov’s arrest warrant, Inkazan.ru reports.
There are numerous unconfirmed reports and rumors regarding where the 3 fugitives could be hiding. While some investigators strongly believe they must have escaped to the United Arab Emirates through Belarus, others believe they are actually in Turkey.
Meanwhile, according to official reports, total losses to this crypto scam have already exceeded 1 billion rubles (about $14 million). This is the biggest of such fraud in Russia in recent years, thereby forcing the federal Ministry of Interior to fully take over the investigation.
Victims of the scam were not limited to Russian citizens alone, as the crypto pyramid scheme saw investors from across a good number of countries in the region and even beyond. Over 3,300 official complaints have been lodged so far, from countries like Austria, Hungary, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, and even the U.S.
