According to kapital.kz, citing the Financial Monitoring Agency, authorities in the Almaty region shut down the Albi pawnshop chain, which had continued operating under the new name Albi-KM after being stripped of its microfinance license.
The pawnshops issued loans secured by jewelry across the Almaty and Turkistan regions at 2% per day, exceeding the legally mandated 0.3% cap by more than six times. Contracts were issued using pledge tickets bearing the previous company’s stamps, while settlements were processed in cash and through bank accounts of controlled sole proprietors.
Illegal income exceeded 146 million tenge. A travel restriction was imposed on the suspect as a pre-trial measure. The court froze her assets, including 21 apartments, 5 land plots, 7 vehicles, 7 garages, 2 retail stores, and a hotel. The criminal case has been referred to court.