Court Concludes High-Profile Nazira Gold Case in Shymkent

A high-profile court case involving the company Nazira Gold, described as one of Kazakhstan’s largest financial pyramids, has concluded in Shymkent, Orda.kz reports.

The main defendant, 28-year-old Nazira Nurzhanova, was accused of defrauding more than 4,000 people across the country.

The Scheme

According to investigators, Nurzhanova and her accomplices promised quick and easy profits, convincing people to hand over both cash and gold. In return, investors were promised monthly returns of 20–40 percent.

Across Kazakhstan, more than 4,000 people were affected, though only 148 were officially recognized as victims in court. Individual investments ranged from 1 million to 50 million tenge. Investigators said the group’s accounts received about 600 million tenge per day.

Judge Madiyar Abdrasilov, who presided over the criminal case, stated:

If you add up the amounts transferred by the victims, it totals 16 billion tenge. Considering the confiscated gold items, the assets amount to barely two billion. Where the rest of the money went is unknown. This is a clear sign of a financial pyramid.

Verdict, Sentences, and Reactions

The trial lasted nearly a year. Nurzhanova was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while her accomplices received five-year sentences. However, seven of them are mothers of underage children, and they will begin serving their sentences only once their children reach the age of 14.

Many victims expressed dissatisfaction with the court’s decision, saying they have not recovered their money or gold.

She deceived me in 2022. By 2023, there were already 11 victims. They say she has no prior convictions — that’s a lie! She was tried two or three times before. And now she’s again under house arrest. This court was unfair. I handed over property worth 25 million tenge and one kilogram of gold. I’m still trying to prove my case and will appeal to the Supreme Court,
 said Karlygash Bekbolatova, one of those affected.

Nurzhanova herself also disagreed with the verdict, insisting she could return the money to investors — though few now believe her.

The convicted organizer has been given two months to compensate victims for the multibillion-tenge losses.
 
Original Author: Nazerke Yerkinbekkyzy