The charges, reported by Kommersant and The Bell, allege that Nikiforov was one of the creators of the pyramid, which defrauded about 8,000 people of approximately 5 billion rubles ($54 million). According to investigators, the funds were funneled abroad with the help of Innopolis Arkhitekt, a company developing the science city of Innopolis near Kazan.
Azat Tukhvatullin, the general director and co-owner of Innopolis Arkhitekt, was detained in late August at his home in Innopolis, Kommersant reported. Local police and Rosgvardia special forces (SOBR) were called in for the arrest, and Tukhvatullin resisted. Investigators claim that Nikiforov is the second co-owner of the firm through Innopolis Razvitie LLC.
Another Finiko defendant, Edvard Sabirov, who was extradited to Russia from the UAE, may have given testimony against Nikiforov and Tukhvatullin. According to Kommersant, Sabirov admitted guilt and said that Nikiforov and Tukhvatullin could have been the pyramid's shadow beneficiaries. Finiko, which emerged in Tatarstan, attracted money with promises of investments in securities and cryptocurrencies yielding up to 25% annually. In 2021, the company stopped paying dividends.
Kommersant notes that Nikiforov has lived mostly in the UAE since his resignation in 2018. The UAE had refused to extradite Sabirov for nearly three years before finally sending him to Russia in December, The Bell reports.
Nikiforov headed the Ministry of Communications from 2012 to 2018 in Dmitry Medvedev's government and was the youngest federal minister in Russian history. His ministry drafted regulations for the Yarovaya law, and he was involved in creating Innopolis. In April 2014, the Dissernet community found plagiarism in his dissertation. According to RBC, Nikiforov may soon be put on the wanted list.