Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has said that about 7 trillion tenge, roughly $14 billion, was routed through a single Kazakh bank from a “neighbouring country” and transferred onwards to other states, as he called for tighter supervision of commercial banks and stronger action against financial crime.
Tokayev made the remarks during a meeting focused on combating financial offences, where he said the scale of the transaction flow raised legal, economic and political questions. He did not name the originating state, but several regional media outlets interpreted the reference to a “neighbouring country” as Russia.
According to reports citing the presidential press service, Tokayev instructed the National Bank and the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market to tighten control over potentially illegal or suspicious operations by commercial banks.
The comments come amid a broader clampdown by Kazakhstan on schemes linked to remotely issued banking products for non-residents, which expanded after Western sanctions limited Russian access to international payments and financial services. In recent years, Russian citizens have sought Kazakh bank cards and accounts to facilitate cross-border payments, including through remote procedures and intermediaries.
Kazakh authorities have progressively narrowed access points used by intermediaries. Rules introduced in early 2025 limited the validity of payment cards issued to non-residents without a residence permit to 12 months, with defined exceptions, and banks have publicly set out revised issuance and re-issuance requirements.
Regulators have also prepared proposals to further tighten ongoing access to accounts for foreigners without residence status, including regular identity checks. Kazakhstan’s business press and The Astana Times reported draft measures that would require monthly identity verification for certain non-resident clients to maintain access to banking services, alongside closer scrutiny of account purpose and transaction patterns.
In parallel, Kazakh officials have highlighted the use of so-called “drop” cards, opened in the names of third parties and used to move illicit funds. An official statement by Kazakhstan’s Agency for Financial Monitoring, summarising 2024 results, said it identified 6,200 cases involving “drop cards” with a total turnover of 24 billion tenge, and that more than 90 per cent of cardholders linked to such laundering schemes were non-residents.
The same enforcement context has featured in cross-border reporting. The Moscow Times previously reported that some Russian cardholders were questioned by law enforcement in connection with Kazakh bank cards, and that Kazakhstan had shared information with foreign counterparts about non-resident involvement in suspected laundering schemes.
Tokayev’s latest intervention places the focus on the banking sector’s role as a transit channel for large-scale flows. While the president did not identify the bank involved or provide detail on how the transfers were structured, the figure he cited — more than 7 trillion tenge — points to transactions far larger than the volumes typically discussed in public reporting on retail “drop card” misuse.
The president also linked financial crime enforcement to the rapid growth of crypto-related laundering and illicit capital outflows. Tokayev said the authorities had shut down more than 130 illegal cryptocurrency exchangers with a combined turnover exceeding 62 billion tenge, and that assets had been seized in related criminal cases.
Kazakhstan’s Agency for Financial Monitoring has previously described major operations against illicit crypto services. In late 2025, the agency reported the closure of a crypto service known as RAKS exchange, which it described as a laundering platform used for proceeds from online fraud and drug trafficking. According to the agency’s account, the platform had turnover of about $224 million and links to 20 large darknet marketplaces with a combined audience exceeding 5 million users.
For Kazakhstan, the enforcement push sits alongside the country’s attempt to balance financial openness with heightened compliance pressures. As a regional hub with extensive trade and financial links to Russia, and with banks that have served foreign customers seeking alternatives to sanctioned payment channels, Astana has faced scrutiny over potential sanctions evasion risks and laundering vulnerabilities. Measures that tighten onboarding, limit card validity, and increase transaction monitoring are framed by regulators as steps to reduce exposure to fraud, money laundering and terror financing.
Tokayev’s statement on the $14 billion flow suggests the government intends to apply the same logic to higher-value banking activity, with a particular focus on correspondent-style transfers and commercial bank controls.
