A 23-year-old resident of Astana was sentenced to three years in prison for a fabricated story about sexual harassment in the army, which he used to solicit money on social media, reports Orda.kz.
According to police, in February 2026, the young man anonymously posted on Threads claiming that during his service he was harassed by a commander. He wrote that his life was in danger, asked for financial help to leave Kazakhstan, and attached payment details.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint from a user. The probe revealed the story was completely fabricated. Moreover, the author had never served in the military.
He used the bank account of his 17-year-old acquaintance, whom he had misled, to collect money. Within two days, more than 100 transfers were made to this account.
"During the investigation, the man confessed that he invented the story solely for money," police said.
The court found him guilty on two counts: fraud and dissemination of deliberately false information. Sentence: three years in prison.
The story gained wide attention in February when an anonymous post about alleged sexual harassment in the army appeared on Threads. The author claimed to be depressed, feared for his life, and was raising money to leave the country.
In early March, the Defense Ministry stated that the information was false, and later the Interior Ministry reported that the author had never served in the army.
More details on the website infohub.kz.