The department of the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) in Shymkent has shut down the activities of the "KazMunayGas Invest" financial pyramid, which was impersonating the investment division of KazMunayGas National Company JSC (KMG).
According to the agency's press service, the suspects promised quick and high returns from purchasing KMG shares, with a profit of 50% every 15 days.
In reality, no securities were purchased, and payments were made using funds from new participants.
The minimum initial deposit was 500,000 tenge. As a result, around 200 citizens lost more than 1 billion tenge.
Using the criminal proceeds, the suspects purchased two expensive cars (Tank 500 and BMW X5), a residential house, and a restaurant in the Turkestan region, with a total value exceeding 438 million tenge. To hide the assets from potential confiscation, they registered them in the names of relatives.
By court order, the aforementioned assets have been seized. The suspects have been placed in custody. The investigation is ongoing.