The capital's Department of the Financial Monitoring Agency (AFM) has uncovered a large scheme for laundering and legalizing criminal proceeds from maintaining a brothel for providing intimate services under the guise of body massage. This was reported by the AFM press service.
According to the agency, a resident of Astana earned two billion tenge illegally from 2021 to 2023. It was established that the money was received through complex legalization schemes using the bank details of relatives and trusted persons. To legalize the funds, the suspect registered an LLP through which she resold agricultural crops, as a result of which 88.5 million tenge was legalized, and the total income was 95 million tenge.
The woman used the illegally obtained money to buy:
- for 350 million tenge a commercial space of 500 square meters;
- for 92 million tenge, five two-room apartments with a total area of 329.1 square meters, registered to a hired worker;
- for 667.5 million tenge two cottages with plots of land with a total area of 784 square meters;
- for 335.4 million tenge two luxury apartments with a total area of 292 square meters and a parking space;
- for 114 million tenge a Mercedes-Benz G63.
During the searches, 50 million tenge in cash and jewelry were also confiscated from the Astana resident. Having learned about the investigation, the woman tried to avoid confiscation by selling five apartments for 143.5 million tenge, which brought in additional illegal income of 51.5 million tenge.
The court found the woman guilty and sentenced her to six years in prison with confiscation of property and money.
“By court order, she was convicted of organizing and maintaining a brothel for prostitution and laundering money obtained through criminal means and sentenced to six years of imprisonment with confiscation of property and money corresponding to the value of the apartments sold,” the AFM reported.
An investigation has also been launched into the nanny who worked for the defendant. The two-room apartments mentioned were registered in her name, and during the investigation the nanny declared herself to be the actual owner.
Subscribe to our X
Cover: Illustrative photo / freepik.com