The AFM Department for Pavlodar Region is conducting a pre-trial investigation into the creation and operation of the financial pyramid scheme 'Autolux'.
According to the agency's press service, within three months, the financial pyramid's activities spread across the Pavlodar, Almaty, Aktobe and other regions.
It is reported that the alleged organiser offered, on an online store platform, to invest money for the fictitious purchase of goods on instalment plans, promising rewards of 5% to 15% every 10 days.
After this, the investors continued to pay off loans for the unpurchased goods, while the suspect cashed out the money and spent it on expensive entertainment, including foreign trips.
As a result, the fraudster attracted over 150 people, who invested more than 100 million tenge in the financial pyramid.
With the illegally obtained funds, the suspect purchased two cars, a Mercedes Benz and Toyota Camry, which were seized by court order. A preventative measure of 'house arrest' was imposed on the alleged organiser of the financial pyramid.
It is worth recalling that earlier the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan extradited a Kazakh citizen from Kyrgyzstan to face criminal liability for creating and operating the financial pyramid scheme 'QI-Trade' as part of a transnational organised group.
As became known, the suspects appropriated around 15 billion tenge belonging to over 4,700 investors. Some participants were convicted, while the aforementioned individual fled and was placed on the international wanted list. While on the run, the suspect committed murder on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, where he was convicted.