TURKESTAN: THE CASE OF THE ORGANIZERS OF THE FINANCIAL PYRAMID HAS BEEN SENT TO COURT

The fight against the organizers of the financial pyramid has been intensified in the Turkestan region. Since the summer of 2020, the internal affairs bodies of the republic have been receiving applications from citizens who have become victims of the “Indigo 24” financial pyramid scheme. They are mainly residents of Turkestan, Mangistau regions, Shymkent and Nur-Sultan cities. The number of victims exceeded 2,000 people.

As a result of operational search measures on suspicion of involvement in the creation and management of a financial pyramid, police officers identified and detained 25 people. These are residents of the Turkestan region and the cities of Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Shymkent. Computer equipment, movable and immovable property were seized from all the detainees. Another suspect was put on the wanted list.

Taking into account the scale of the crime committed, by order of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Police Lieutenant General E.Turgumbayev, an investigative group consisting of 30 investigators from 5 regions of the country was created on the basis of the Police Department of the Turkestan region. The group was headed by one of the experienced investigators of the Turkestan region, police major Altynai Zholymbekova. In addition, 7 special prosecutors, operatives, experts and translators were involved in the investigation. The pre-trial investigation lasted more than a year.

During this time, the police and prosecutors have done a lot of work to collect evidence of the suspects' guilt. 15 types of examinations have been appointed. Investigators found that the criminal group in the period from February 2018 to August 2020 fraudulently seized more than 3000000000 tenge, promising depositors a guaranteed one hundred percent profit. The money received was divided among the suspects. To become participants in a financial pyramid scheme, most of the citizens took out a loan secured by their housing.

During the pre-trial investigation, the investigators managed to prove that the criminal group was organized, acted clearly according to the planned plan, the roles of each participant were clearly distributed. As a result, the police and prosecutors sent to the court a multi-volume criminal case containing more than 160 thousand pages of the indictment.