Kazakh Officials Uncover Billion-Tenge Fraud Scheme at State Income Data Operator

Financial monitoring authorities in Almaty have completed an investigation into the leadership of the state-owned Center for Labor Resources Development (CLRD) and the private First Credit Bureau (FCB). The officials are suspected of abuse of power and bribery.

The CLRD holds a unique position as Kazakhstan's sole state operator of information on individuals' incomes. This data is crucial for credit bureaus and financial institutions when assessing borrowers' creditworthiness, with no alternative legal sources available. The primary consumers of this information are the State Credit Bureau (SCB) and the First Credit Bureau (FCB).

The investigation revealed that in 2020, the former president of CLRD, D.R. Argandykov, entered into an illegal agreement with FCB's General Director R.Zh. Omarov. This deal allowed FCB to extract 5% more revenue from its operations.

While SCB received 30% of income from services rendered, FCB's share was increased from 30% to 35% under this agreement. Consequently, CLRD's own revenue share was reduced from 70% to 65%. In early 2025, after A. Sarbasov was appointed as the new president of CLRD, these discriminatory profit-sharing terms favoring FCB were maintained.

A sophisticated scheme was uncovered that gave FCB an unfair competitive advantage over other service recipients. Argandykov and Omarov colluded to install a special information service on the data exchange channels between CLRD and FCB, enabling rapid processing of large volumes of queries without delays.

Simultaneously, malicious software was introduced into the information channels between CLRD and SCB, deliberately causing delays in processing their requests.

These unlawful actions caused damage exceeding two billion tenge to the state through CLRD.

In June 2025, Argandykov and Omarov were caught red-handed while transferring another bribe of $75,000 to Sarbasov. This payment was intended to preserve the conditions of their existing illegal profit-extraction scheme for FCB.

The suspects have been detained. With court approval, their movable and immovable property along with securities—collectively valued at over one billion tenge—have been seized. Case materials have been forwarded for review; further details remain confidential.