At the time of arrest, the criminals were preparing to roll up the pyramid and escape
Sber employees identified a fraud scheme in which the organizers of the financial pyramid convinced citizens to take out loans from banks and send 60% of the borrowed funds to them in exchange for full repayment of the debt. Sber, together with law enforcement agencies, stopped the activities of this pyramid, and also identified three more similar cases. Stanislav Kuznetsov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank, spoke about this at the XXVII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The criminal scheme attracted the attention of one of the employees, who discovered that one bank client was repaying loans for 27 people at once. An internal investigation and a thorough analysis of the loan portfolio helped prevent further loans worth 200 million rubles and identify three more pyramid schemes.
Sber forwarded the results of the investigation to law enforcement agencies, after which a criminal case was initiated for illegal banking activities. The four organizers of the pyramid were arrested, and 43 million rubles in bank accounts and cash, three apartments and 12 cars were confiscated. At the time of arrest, the criminals were preparing to roll up the pyramid and escape.