In court No. 2 of Kostanay, a verdict was delivered in the case of the creation and management of a financial pyramid.
According to the court's press service, two residents of the region organised activities under the guise of the investment company "Life is Good" (the "Hermes LTD" project) between 2019 and 2023. The defendants offered citizens the chance to open "Vista" accounts with promises of high returns; however, payments were actually made using funds from new participants.
22 citizens invested in the financial pyramid, totalling over 88 million tenge. Of these, 12 suffered property damage exceeding 55 million tenge.
In court, both defendants fully admitted their guilt and requested a sentence not involving imprisonment.
Ultimately, the court sentenced each to 6 years' imprisonment to be served in a minimum-security facility, and also banned them from engaging in financial and commercial activities for 5 years. For one of the convicted women, the execution of the sentence was postponed for five years due to having young children.
For context, in September of last year, one of the organisers of the "Life is good Hermes Management Ltd" financial pyramid was sentenced in Karaganda. Seven of its investors suffered material losses totalling 108.7 million tenge.