Picture this: you’re sipping coffee in a gleaming Dubai skyscraper, the kind of place where Lamborghinis are parked like Toyotas. Life feels pretty sweet. Then, suddenly, armed officers knock on your door at 5 a.m. Next thing you know, you’re on a government jet heading straight to a country where people really don’t like you anymore.
That appears to be exactly what happened to one of the key figures behind Finiko, arguably the most audacious crypto pyramid scheme Russia has seen in the last decade.
The End of the Road in the Desert
On December 10, 2025, Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs dropped a short but explosive statement: a founder-level member of the infamous Finiko organization had been handed over by UAE authorities at Dubai airport and flown back to Moscow in custody.
No name was released in the official channels yet, which only fuels the speculation fire. The crypto community immediately started guessing – is this Kirill Doronin, the public face who vanished years ago? Or one of the lesser-known but equally crucial co-founders?
Whatever the identity, the message is crystal clear: even the United Arab Emirates, long seen as a safe harbor for crypto fugitives living large, is no longer willing to look the other way.
How Finiko Managed to Scam So Many for So Long
Finiko launched quietly in late 2018 in Kazan, Russia, promising something that sounded too perfect: deposit your rubles, dollars, or crypto and get 20–30% monthly returns, guaranteed. No questions about where the money came from, just shiny slides showing luxury cars and stacks of cash.
Classic Ponzi playbook, but executed with ruthless efficiency. They built an army of promoters – taxi drivers, teachers, even pensioners – who earned fat commissions for bringing in new blood. Social media was flooded with “I turned $1,000 into $15,000 in six months” stories. You know the type.
By mid-2021, when the whole thing collapsed, investigators estimate between 800,000 and 1 million people had poured money in. Total damage? Somewhere north of $95 million, possibly much higher once all the offshore wallets are traced.
“It wasn’t just greed – it was hope. People believed they’d finally found a way to escape poverty, inflation, everything. That’s what made it so devastating.”
– Former Finiko investor speaking anonymously to Russian media
The Great Escape to the Gulf
When Russian police raided offices in July 2021, the top tier vanished almost overnight. Private jets, fake passports, the works. Many resurfaced months later posting Instagram stories from Dubai marinas and Abu Dhabi palaces.
The UAE had become the go-to destination for crypto fugitives – lax extradition in some cases, no questions about sudden wealth, and a lifestyle that made the risk feel worth it. For years it worked beautifully.
But cracks started appearing in 2024. Pressure from the U.S., Europe, and now apparently Russia forced Emirati authorities to reconsider their hands-off approach. High-profile deportations of OneCoin figures and Ruja Ignatova associates set the precedent.
What the Deportation Actually Means
Make no mistake – this isn’t just symbolic. Russian prosecutors have been building airtight cases for years, seizing whatever assets they could find domestically and working through Interpol red notices.
The person now in custody faces charges of organizing a criminal group and large-scale fraud – articles that carry sentences up to 15 years in a Russian penal colony. And unlike many white-collar cases, pyramid scheme organizers rarely get light treatment when victims number in the hundreds of thousands.
- Potential outcomes if convicted:
- 15+ years imprisonment
- Confiscation of any remaining assets worldwide
- Civil claims from victims that will follow for decades
- Likely cooperation deals to reduce sentence by testifying against others
The last point is probably keeping several ex-Finiko members awake at night right now.
A Warning Shot to the Entire Industry
I’ve been covering crypto scams for years, and this feels different. When a jurisdiction like the UAE – literally built in part on attracting wealthy expats with minimal questions – starts handing people over, the message echoes loud and clear.
No more infinite runways. No more “I’ll just move to Dubai and it’s over.” International cooperation on financial crime has reached levels we haven’t seen since the post-2008 crackdowns.
Just look at the timeline:
- 2022 – Edvard Sabirov (alleged front man) arrested in UAE
- 2023-2024 – Multiple lower-tier promoters extradited from Thailand, Turkey, Georgia
- 2025 – A genuine founder-level figure deported
The net is closing, one private-jet flight at a time.
Lessons Every Crypto Investor Should Tattoo on Their Forearm
If you’re still tempted by “guaranteed” 1-2% daily returns, let Finiko be your ghost of Christmas future.
Here are the red flags that were screaming from day one:
- Promises of fixed high returns regardless of market conditions
- Heavy reliance on recruitment bonuses (classic pyramid marker)
- No audited financials or verifiable trading history
- Founders with zero track record in traditional finance
- Pressure to “act fast before spots fill up”
Any one of those should send you running. All five together? That’s not an investment – that’s a donation with extra steps.
What Happens Next?
Russian investigators will almost certainly parade the suspect in perp-walk footage (they love that). Expect tearful victim interviews on state TV within days.
More importantly, watch for plea deals. If this individual starts naming names and handing over wallet keys, half a dozen luxury Dubai apartments might suddenly have new owners – namely, the Russian state.
And somewhere tonight, a few remaining Finiko masterminds are probably checking Visa requirements for Paraguay, Venezuela, or wherever hasn’t signed an extradition treaty yet.
Good luck with that.
The Finiko saga isn’t over – it’s just entering its final, ugliest chapter. For the victims who lost life savings, apartments, and in some documented cases even their will to live, this deportation offers a sliver of justice.
For the rest of us, it’s a reminder that in crypto, the house doesn’t always win – but when the house is built on lies, it always collapses eventually.
Stay safe out there.
