"The individual in question is suspected of leading a structural division of the financial pyramid scheme the Finiko from July 2020 to July 2021. She illegally attracted funds from citizens amounting to a total of 65.9 million tenge and $206,500," the agency said in a statement.

According to the agency, Dana Batyrshina, born on September 26, 1976, in Tashkent, is a native of Uzbekistan.

The financial organization Finiko had been collecting funds since 2019, promising annual returns of 20-30%. However, by the summer of 2021, the company stopped paying out to its investors.

As early as late 2020, Russian authorities initiated a criminal case against the organizers of Finiko for creating a financial pyramid scheme, but the company continued to operate and collect money.