Former Russian Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov left Russia just hours before he was set to be detained over the Finiko case. According to investigators, in the early hours of August 31, he flew out of Vnukovo Airport to the UAE on a private business jet. Meanwhile, his business partner Azat Tukhvatullin was taken into custody.

What went down

On August 31, law enforcement was planning to arrest both Nikiforov and Tukhvatullin. In the end, one managed to slip out of the country, while the other was brought in for questioning. There’s been no official word from authorities about Nikiforov’s current whereabouts.

The charges and investigators’ stance

Investigators say Nikiforov is one of the masterminds behind Finiko, and possibly the one who came up with the whole idea. He’s been charged in absentia with organizing a criminal group and large-scale fraud. No comments from his defense have been included in the case files so far.

The scale of the Finiko case

Finiko is a Russian Ponzi scheme that’s been called the country’s biggest since MMM. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are more than 7,700 victims, and total losses top 5,000,000,000 rubles (about $55 million) for the period from 2019 to 2021. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities still rounding up suspects.