The specialised inter-district criminal court of Astana has passed a sentence on the accused of creating and leading a transnational organised group. He was also charged with creating a financial pyramid.
According to the press service of Astana courts, a citizen of the Russian Federation, together with other individuals, created a financial pyramid and attracted depositors.
"These individuals created the company 'Questra Holding ins', and in 2016 it was split into two companies: an investment company - 'Atlantic Global Asset Management' (AGAM) and a brokerage company - 'Questra World'", the statement said.
As a result, 529 citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who invested funds in the company's fictitious investment projects, suffered material damage of more than 1 billion tenge.
The defendant, for his part, did not admit guilt, stating that he had no connection whatsoever to these organisations.
Ultimately, the court found him guilty of committing criminal offences under Article 264, Part 1 (Creation and leadership of a transnational organised group) and Article 217, Part 3, Paragraphs 1, 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Creation and leadership of a financial pyramid), sentencing him to 11 years' imprisonment.
It will be recalled that earlier the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM) initiated a pre-trial investigation into the creation and leadership of a branch of the financial pyramid 'World Business Consulting' in the Aktobe region. The damage caused by the suspects' actions amounted to nearly 60 million tenge.
In mid-October, the AFM completed the pre-trial investigation into the creation and leadership of the financial pyramid 'HitBeatMusic' in Almaty. The criminals attracted depositors' funds, promising 10-15% return on the amount invested. The damage amounted to 255 million tenge.
Shortly before this, it became known that the AFM is conducting a pre-trial investigation into a group of individuals for the creation and leadership of the financial pyramid 'Sax Invest'. From 2018 to 2022, its participants attracted 3,000 depositors. The turnover of funds amounted to $18 million (nearly 9 billion tenge).