The Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) has reported on the results of combating drop schemes used to launder money. Since the beginning of the year, the agency has dismantled 33 drop cells, identified more than 40 organisers of criminal schemes, and uncovered illegal financial transactions totalling over 112 billion tenge.
WHAT RESULTS THE FMA REPORTED
Since the start of the year, the FMA has dismantled 33 drop cells that were carrying out money laundering operations.
According to the agency, more than 40 organisers of criminal schemes have been identified, involving over 500 people in illegal activities. Illegal financial transactions worth more than 112 billion tenge were conducted through the bank accounts of drops. In the last two months alone, more than 1,000 drop cards have been blocked.
WHAT SCHEMES WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE REGIONS
The FMA Department for the West Kazakhstan Region (WKR) has disrupted the activities of an international network of 'drop organisers' that used citizens' bank accounts to launder money obtained through online fraud.
After the accounts, through which approximately 17 million tenge had passed, were blocked, members of the organised group kidnapped the 18-year-old owner of these accounts and, under threat of violence, forced him to restore access to them.
In the Zhetysu region, according to the FMA, a local resident responded to an online advertisement for earning money and, on the instructions of handlers, used her personal bank accounts to receive funds obtained through internet fraud. After receiving the funds, she converted them into cryptocurrency and transferred them to the accounts of the scheme's organisers, receiving a commission for each transaction.
In the Turkistan region, according to the agency, a drop scheme was coordinated through an anonymous handler on Telegram, who recruited students and minors to hand over access to online banking in exchange for payment. As a result, more than 20 young people are now under investigation.
WHAT THE FMA REMINDS
The FMA warns that participation in drop schemes entails criminal liability. The agency emphasises that ensuring the financial security of the country begins with the personal responsibility of every citizen.
