Kazakhstan Sentences 27 in $6.4 Million Fake Farm-Loan Scheme

Executive summary: A Kazakh court sentenced 27 individuals to six to eight years in prison after investigators found they ran a five-year fraud scheme (2016–2021) that created fictitious farms to obtain livestock subsidies and 24 sham loans, pledging 54 nonexistent assets as collateral; the scheme was led by executives at KT Yassy Nesie LLC who siphoned funds from a state-backed Agrarian Credit Corporation, and authorities seized numerous properties and vehicles.