Crypto Pyramid Found in Russia, Losses Exceed $10 Million

After a similar scheme defrauded thousands more investors in Russia and the region, the Ponzi scheme is now being investigated.

Police Search for Crypto Pyramid Organizers In Dagestan, Russia

Officers from the Russian Republic of Dagestan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service (FSB), have identified individuals suspected of organizing a major financial pyramid that would offer victims profits of up 500% annually through their digital assets investments.

Forklog reported that the suspects were representatives of Yusra Global, according to Kommersant's sources. The fraudulent entity also had offices in Dagestan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

According to the publication, four Russian citizens were detained by the authorities in January. They are all believed to have been involved with the Ponzi scheme. The initial arrest was for two months. They could face up to ten year imprisonment and hefty fines.

According to the report, fraudsters inflated digital asset values and paid dividends from the investments made by pyramid participants. They bought real estate and distributed the remainder of the money.

According to the Russian newspaper, preliminary estimates indicate that the losses of the victims amount to 1 Billion rubles or more than $10 Million based on current exchange rates.

Yusra Global's investigation comes shortly after Russian authorities shut down what was arguably the largest financial fraud in Russia since the 1990s' MMM pyramid.

Finiko is also a Ponzi scheme that exploits the growing popularity of cryptocurrency. It has caused loss in excess of $4 billion. Its founder Kirill Doronin, a social media influencer connected to other scams in past, and several of his accomplices were all arrested.

People from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet countries, EU member states and the U.S. were among those who made 800,000 crypto deposits to the phantom entity. According to Chainalysis, the pyramid was located in Tatarstan in Russia and received more than $1.5 billion in bitcoin within two years.