Organized crime group faces sentences in Kazakhstan’s fake agricultural subsidy case

A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced 27 people from an organized crime group to terms of six to eight years for stealing the equivalent of $6.4 million in public funds by means of a fraudulent agricultural loan scheme, state news agency Kazinform reported, citing the country’s Financial Monitoring Agency.

According to investigators, the defendants spent five years—between 2016 and 2021—setting up fictitious farms, filing fraudulent applications for livestock subsidies, securing 24 sham loans, and pledging 54 nonexistent assets as collateral.

The scheme was spearheaded by executives at KT Yassy Nesie LLC, who siphoned off government funds meant for an agribusiness initiative run by Agrarian Credit Corporation JSC, a state-backed lender that finances rural ventures and cattle purchases.

Under court orders, authorities seized extensive property belonging to the defendants, including nine homes, 10 plots of land, two apartments, four commercial properties, and four vehicles.