Residents of Tatarstan lose more than 4 bn rb due to financial pyramids over the past 3 years
Losses often remain uncompensated, the Interior Ministry of the republic has stated
In addition to classical financial pyramids, various projects developing through the internet have emerged, said Ruslan Gumerov, deputy head of the Directorate for Economic Security and Countering Corruption of the Interior Ministry in Tatarstan. Residents of the republic are losing billions of roubles, which they often never recover: fraudulent organisations “completely consume their capital”. The development of financial crimes is also affected by cryptocurrency turnover and the mass involvement of young people in dropper schemes. Read more in the Realnoe Vremya report.
“Caught” in financial pyramids were more than 5,000 residents of Tatarstan
Over the past three years, residents of Tatarstan have lost more than 4 billion rubles due to financial pyramids, Ruslan Gumerov said today during a press conference. During this period, more than 5,000 people in the republic have suffered from the actions of the organisers of financial pyramids.
“This is the damage [only] from the pyramids uncovered in the past three years. It also includes losses from the largest pyramids, such as Finiko,” the speaker stated.
According to him, today financial pyramids are one of the most dangerous models of criminal behaviour in the field of financial investment.
“The main consequence of the activities [of financial pyramids] is, of course, the damage caused. It often remains uncompensated, since a significant part of depositors’ funds, due to the very nature of financial pyramids, is paid out as income to new investors and spent on the ostentatious luxurious lifestyle of the organisers,” stated Ruslan Gumerov.
At the same time, he emphasised that within the framework of investigations, the issue of compensation is a top priority. Financial pyramids often “completely consume their capital”. But sometimes the organisers of large fraudulent schemes manage to acquire expensive property.
“Of course, we do find such property if it is registered in the name of the suspects themselves, their relatives, <...> and we place it under arrest. But only the court can transfer this property in favour of the victims,” said the deputy head of the Directorate for Economic Security and Countering Corruption.
Criminals turn to the most pressing issues for the population
In addition to classical pyramids, various projects have emerged that have largely developed through the internet. For example, a popular scheme of theft has become the organisation of trading on stock markets and the international market.
“[Fraudsters create] a kind of pseudo-brokerage companies and consulting centres offering training in trading. They imitate teaching, create in the client an illusion of possessing the science of trading, carry out a number of successful deals, and achieve the deposit of a substantial sum into account balances. Often, loans are taken out for this purpose — clients are simply provoked into obtaining them through aggressive advertising and persuasion. The deposit shown on the trading platform screen of such a pseudo-broker is nothing more than numbers; the funds themselves are withdrawn instantly. But even this fictitious deposit is reduced to zero in a short time to create the appearance of a loss on the exchange, often even according to non-existent quotations. In reality, the trading platforms used by fraudsters are not connected to the real stock or currency market: the fraudsters simply purchase a software shell, which they themselves control,” said Ruslan Gumerov.
In 2019–2021, 18 criminal cases were opened in relation to 13 such pyramids, he added. By the early 2020s, the uncovered schemes had become more structured and extensive, with the organiser network including 10–20 people or more.
“During the current period of 2025, crimes have been detected in 10 cases of fraud involving the organisers of three financial pyramids: ‘City of Legends’ and Invest Ureks, as well as ‘Edex’ with their Urban University,” the speaker said.
According to him, by disguising their criminal actions as civil-law relations, fraudsters target the most pressing issues for the population — in particular, housing construction. An example is the company Stroycapital, which stole a total of 60 million rubles.
Dropper schemes will be defeated within a year, but young people will seek new criminal earnings
The potential for further development of financial crimes is linked to modern technologies, in particular artificial intelligence (AI).
“Young people are massively involved in this activity: some issue cards and sell them to droppers (people who provide their bank cards to receive illegally obtained funds — editor’s note), others buy them, and still others organise interaction with fraudsters or organisers of online casinos and drug dealers,” said Ruslan Gumerov.
Another factor influencing the development of financial crimes is the turnover of cryptocurrency. Fraudsters transfer stolen funds into it, creating a parallel banking system — one that is beyond state control.
“In my view, we will overcome it (dropper schemes — editor’s note) within six months to a year,” said Ruslan Gumerov. “Considering that young people were massively involved in it — where will they go? We assume that they will look for new types of crime.”