YEKATERINBURG, September 21 - RAPSI. Law enforcement authorities have completed the investigation into the high-profile criminal case of a businessman who used a Ponzi scheme to defraud 4,000 people in several countries, the police press service reported on Wednesday.

Businessman Alexey Kalinichenko allegedly established investment companies and encouraged individuals to deposit their savings, promising high profits from operations on the interbank market.

However, Kalinichenko deposited the appropriated funds in his own bank accounts without planning to repay the money. According to investigators, he misappropriated over 1 billion rubles ($36 million) and laundered over 350 million rubles ($12.5 million). Kalinichenko defrauded people from Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Belarus, Ukraine and Latvia.

Kalinichenko later fled to Italy where he was arrested by Interpol last June and placed under house arrest. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office sent an extradition request to Italy, which was satisfied in early October 2009. However, Kalinichenko managed to flee to Morocco where he was yet again detained. He was finally brought to Moscow in mid-May.

Kalinichenko now faces up to 10 years in prison and a 1 million ruble fine.