How many financial pyramids and illegal creditors Central Bank counts in Tatarstan

What financial pyramids there are, besides Finiko and Gafarov Foundation

For the first time, the Central Bank has put on public display a list of financial pyramids and illegal lenders. It includes 1,820 organisations. The register, according to the regulator, will be updated.

The list includes only companies identified this year with the help of the Bank of Russia's monitoring system and citizens' appeals.

“The publication of such list is aimed at protecting the interests of consumers and will them the opportunity to be warned in a timely manner about the risks associated with such companies," the Central Bank believes.

The list also includes companies associated with Tatarstan, as well as those located there. Among the first, it is Finiko. In December 2020, the Prosecutor's Office of Tatarstan insisted on opening a criminal case on the organisation of the Finiko financial pyramid. According to the security forces, this company illegally attracted at least 80 million rubles. Finiko did not have a license to operate as a forex dealer, and it is not registered in the state registers or in the tax authorities. As reported to Realnoe Vremya in the Volga-Vyatka GU of the Bank of Russia, the FINIKO website was registered just a few months before the start of active activity — these signs are also typical for financial pyramids.

Another, no less well-known company and financial pyramid, according to the Central Bank, is Gafarov and Partners Ltd. A criminal case has been initiated against the founders of the company on the fact of fraud of large scale. Security officials believe that from October 2019 to May 2020, the businessman from Naberezhnye Chelny and founder of the fund, Erik Gafarov, together with other persons, “under the pretext of making a profit from investment activities, took possession of the funds of six citizens totalling more than 5 million rubles”. Now Gafarov is hiding in Turkey.

The Volga-Vyatka State Department of the Bank of Russia reported that the last cooperative promises an income of up to 15% per annum, while not being a financial organisation.

“There is no information about the company's own funds and other expensive assets with which it could be responsible for its obligations. The firm does not conduct any financial transactions that indicate that it is conducting investment activities, due to which it can pay high interest to shareholders. This may indicate that the income is paid by attracting more and more depositors — this scenario is typical for financial pyramids," the Central Bank noted.

Illegal creditors are not only in Kazan

According to the Central Bank, there are more illegal lenders in Tatarstan than there are pyramids, and we are talking not only about ones in Kazan.

Commenting on the inclusion in the black list of well-known commission stores Pobeda, in the Volga-Vyatka GU of the Bank of Russia said that money is given to people not after the sale of goods transferred to the commission, as it should be, but immediately after the assessment of the property, after the return of funds, they are obliged to pay interest.

“Another characteristic feature of illegal activity is the use of the word 'pawnshop' in the advertising of thrift stores, which creates the illusion that loans are issued legally here," the regulator stressed.