The Russian Federation General Prosecutor’s Office applied to Moroccan law-enforcement authorities, asking for the extradition of Alexei Kalinichenko back to Russia, where the man suspected of setting up a pyramid scheme will have to face a criminal trial, the Office’s PR Director Marina Gridneva said to UrBC.

‘It is too early at the moment to predict just how soon the application will be considered by the Moroccan authorities and what their decision would be,’ Ms Gridneva added.

In Russia, Alexei Kalinichenko has been charged with setting up Global Gaming Expo, a financial pyramid, and thus stealing over 1 billion RUR worth of private investments. GGE stopped paying its investors in August 2006, with Kalinichenko fleeing abroad and later detected in Italy. The Russian Federation insisted that the Italian authorities extradite the suspect, the latter agreed to this, but Alexei Kalinichenko escaped from house arrest and set himself at large. However, he was then detained in Morocco.