BISHKEK -- A doomed pyramid scheme has again fooled hundreds of people into thinking they could earn unreasonably high profits very easily.
Several people have been arrested in connection with what police say was a scam that defrauded its victims of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a country where the average monthly salary is less than $400.
Police say the Charge Fast company -- established in Bishkek in July 2023 by 43-year-old Syezdbek Sainazarov -- managed to recruit hundreds of “investors” from across the impoverished Central Asian country within months, promising them high profits in a short period of time in return for bringing new members to the scheme.
Victims say they paid between $110 and $17,800 to join the fund.
One person who lost her money, Aelita Muratalieva, told RFE/RL that Charge Fast advertised itself as a lucrative and legitimate investment project.
Muratalieva said she watched the company’s performance for two months before finally deciding to invest the modest amount of some $8 that earned her about 27 cents every day in interest -- a 3.4percent return.
“When I saw I was earning interest, I invested another $20 that brought me $1.40 a day in profit (a 7 percent profit0,” she said. “Then I convinced my father and brother to join.
“Then rumors started that the company was about to shut down, but [its representatives] said that was untrue. So I borrowed [about] $1,340 and invested it in Charge Fast on February 25 without telling my husband and his family.”
But the rumors were correct.
Muratalieva’s largest -- and last -- investment into Charge Fast coincided with those of several others who were suspicious of the scheme and reported it to police.
One customer -- who asked to remain anonymous for legal reasons -- complained to police that Charge Fast representatives convinced her to pay $4,500 into the scam, promising to “double her money.” The woman said the representatives disappeared shortly after she gave them the money.
Similar complaints by alleged victims of the financial fraud were made in Osh, and the Jalal-Abad and Issyk-Kol provinces.
In early March, police made arrests in the capital, Bishkek, and in the eastern city of Karakol of people suspected of organizing a pyramid scheme and committing fraud.
Among those arrested were fund founder Sainazarov and his brother, Omurbek, who had worked as a manager for the company.
Bishkek’s Birinchi May district police announced on March 7 that they had detained the “main person behind organizing the financial pyramid,” who was only identified by the initials “S.S.”
Police said that in Birinchi May alone more than 100 people filed complaints that they had lost money to Charge Fast.
Authorities said efforts are under way to track down everyone involved in organizing the suspected scheme.
A relative of Omurbek Sainazarov told RFE/RL that he denies the charges and that the family is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Lesson Not Learned
Kyrgyz police say many people continue to invest their money in suspicious schemes despite warnings by authorities and reports of thousands of others falling victim to pyramid schemes in recent years.
According to official statistics, 358 criminal cases involving fraudulent investment plans were launched in Kyrgyzstan in 2023. At least 217 of them have already been sent to court and others are still under investigation.
Forty people faced criminal charges in those cases, while the number of victims of pyramid schemes was more than 350, authorities said. The victims in those fraudulent schemes lost some $760,000 in total.
In 2022, there were 1,052 criminal probes launched into suspected pyramid schemes, with 765 of them being transferred to courts for trial. Victims lost more than $3 million, but only about $5,400 was returned to them.
Financial adviser Aslanbek Kenenbaev says most victims seek advice from experts only after losing their money to fraudsters. He urges people to speak to at least three financial experts before investing their money.
“Financial pyramid schemes lure people with large interest rates to those who enroll in the beginning so they, in turn, recruit new members. It means that those who enroll first get the money invested by those who come right after them. Those who come late lose their money [because this system is unsustainable],” Kenenbaev said. “So, you must avoid any scheme that tells you: ‘Sign up, invite others, and earn interest.’”
The Interior Ministry often warns people not to trust companies or ads that promise quick and easy money.
In Kyrgyzstan, those convicted of organizing financial pyramids face up to eight years in jail. Advertising a financial pyramid is also a criminal offense in Kyrgyzstan punishable by up to $2,230 in penalties.
