Kazakh executives face corruption charges in billion-tenge credit data scandal
Kazakh authorities have charged top executives from Human Resources Development Center JSC (HRDC) and First Credit Bureau LLP (FCB) with corruption. The Financial Monitoring Agency uncovered a long-running scheme that manipulated data processing rules to favour FCB. Two former officials have now been remanded in custody, with assets worth over 1 billion tenge seized.
The illegal arrangement began in 2020 under Daulet Argandykov, then-president of HRDC, and Rustam Omarov, CEO of FCB. They signed a secret agreement that shifted profit shares in FCB's favour, reducing HRDC's cut from 70% to 65% while boosting FCB's share to 35%. This deal also granted FCB faster data processing, while deliberately slowing down requests from competitors like the State Credit Bureau.
HRDC, as the sole state operator of income data, provides critical information to credit bureaus and banks assessing borrowers' reliability. The scheme ensured FCB received preferential treatment, distorting fair competition. By June 2025, Argandykov and Omarov were caught transferring $75,000 to Askhat Sarbasov, the newly appointed HRDC president, to maintain the illegal profit structure. The Financial Monitoring Agency estimates the state suffered losses exceeding 2 billion tenge due to the manipulation. Sarbasov, upon taking office in early 2025, upheld the unfair terms, prolonging the scheme's impact on the credit information market.
Both Argandykov and Omarov remain in custody as investigations continue. Their seized assets, valued at over 1 billion tenge, will be held pending further legal action. The case highlights systemic vulnerabilities in Kazakhstan's credit data management, with financial and operational consequences still under review.
