Tokayev briefed on budget fund embezzlement schemes

Tengrinews.kz — The President received Zhanat Elimanov, Chairman of the Financial Monitoring Agency, citing Akorda.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev heard a report on the Agency's key performance results for the first half of 2026 and its objectives for the upcoming period.
Zhanat Elimanov reported that investigations into 496 criminal cases have been completed, with 22.6 billion tenge in damages recovered for victims. Efforts neutralized 7 criminal groups, including 4 transnational organizations, as well as 44 illegal money laundering networks with a turnover exceeding 176 billion tenge. Authorities shut down 12 shadow crypto exchanges used for laundering proceeds from drug trafficking and fraud, and identified 36 dropper cells that processed transactions totaling 113 billion tenge.

"The President was informed that, for the first time in the CIS, individuals using specialized equipment to simulate mobile operator signals and send mass phishing SMS messages to illegally obtain personal data were exposed," the Akorda statement said.

The Chairman also detailed measures for monitoring budget expenditures. Unjustified spending on 52 infrastructure projects totaling 279 billion tenge was prevented. The Agency identified risks of misappropriating 10 billion tenge in state funds during the commercialization of scientific research and uncovered a scheme involving the fictitious registration of 140,000 citizens, which allowed private clinics to receive illegal funding from the Social Health Insurance Fund.
Note.As part of preventive efforts, access was blocked to 9,000 websites and accounts showing signs of illegal gambling, while 2,300 fraudulent resources and 25 group chats with a combined audience of over 35,000 people were shut down. Financial literacy programs reached more than 245,000 citizens. Furthermore, improvements to financial monitoring legislation have led to an upgrade in Kazakhstan's rating across four key FATF recommendations.
Following the meeting, the Head of State issued a series of specific instructions regarding the Agency's key areas of operation.
Earlier, in the Turkestan region, sentences were handed down to 27 members of an organized crime group accused of embezzling over 3 billion tenge from an agribusiness support program.
Depending on their roles, the convicts were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to eight years. According to investigators, the scheme operated from 2016 to 2021 and was organized by the management of KT Yassy Nesie LLP. They registered peasant farms and individual entrepreneurs under front persons; these entities did not actually engage in agriculture and existed only on paper.