Key Figure in ‘Finiko’ Pyramid Sentenced to 4.5 Years in Prison

The Vakhitovsky District Court of Kazan has found Lilia Nuriyeva, a prominent participant in the financial pyramid scheme ‘Finiko’, guilty of fraud and involvement in a criminal organization, sentencing her to 4.5 years in prison. This was reported by local media.

According to the case materials, the 42-year-old Nuriyeva defrauded 161 individuals between July 2019 and July 2021, resulting in losses of 206 million rubles invested in ‘Finiko’.

During the hearing, the defendant promised to compensate the victims and testified against the pyramid’s organizers. Nevertheless, the court sentenced her to imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. Civil claims were left unconsidered.

Nuriyeva was detained in September 2021. She held the status of a so-called ‘tenth star’ in the company, a title given to those whose total investments, including funds from recruited individuals, exceeded $1 million.

In late April, the Prosecutor General’s Office transferred the financial pyramid case to the court. On May 8, the arrest of ‘Finiko’ founder Kirill Doronin and nine of his associates was extended. They are charged with organizing a criminal community and large-scale fraud.

The financial pyramid ‘Finiko’ operated from 2019 to 2021 in Russia, Kazakhstan, and several other CIS countries. It offered clients investments in ‘high-yield investment schemes’ in real estate and cryptocurrencies.

Independent estimates suggest the total damage from the pyramid’s activities exceeds $4 billion, with at least 850,000 victims.

Doronin has been under arrest since late July 2021. Co-founders Edward and Marat Sabirov, as well as Zygmunt Zygmuntovich, have been placed on international wanted lists and arrested in absentia. According to investigators, they left Russia via Belarus and may be in the United Arab Emirates.

In December 2023, Tether blocked five cryptocurrency addresses on the Ethereum network, allegedly linked to ‘Finiko’.