A court in Almaty has convicted 17 defendants in the Asar Baspana financial pyramid case. Investigators say the scheme's organizers raised about 25 billion tenge from roughly 90,000 citizens, promising monthly returns of up to 30%. The Financial Monitoring Agency reported this, according to infohub.kz.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.
According to the investigation, the scheme's participants, led by N. M. Tuganbayev, convinced depositors that the company manufactured construction materials and also operated a sewing workshop and a factory for household and medical appliances. In reality, the products were purchased from third-party suppliers and labeled with the Asar Baspana logo.
When public trust in the pyramid began to decline, the organizers, according to the Financial Monitoring Agency, spread false information about opening car dealerships and partnering with dealers. The cars were bought with depositors' funds and registered to relatives.
Tuganbayev was sentenced to eight years in prison, and three other organizers received seven years each. Thirteen regional managers were given five-year suspended sentences.
Seized assets totaling 5.6 billion tenge will be used to compensate victims. The remaining property will be forfeited to the state.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that, according to the Prosecutor General's Office, damage from financial pyramids in Kazakhstan in 2023–2025 amounted to 36 billion tenge. The agency noted that Asar Baspana attracted new participants to finance its programs, and members' funds were misused, including being cashed out and transferred abroad.