In Kazakhstan, the head of a company declared bankrupt in 2024 was convicted of deliberate bankruptcy and tax evasion. Following an audit, the enterprise's debt to the budget increased from 19 million to 1.2 billion tenge. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Violations uncovered during the audit

According to the State Revenue Committee (SRC) of the Ministry of Finance, while studying the company's activities for the three years prior to bankruptcy, tax authorities discovered suspicious operations. The head of the partnership repeatedly changed its place of registration, and more than 1 billion tenge was withdrawn from the enterprise's accounts.

Later, the director filed additional tax declarations for past periods, after which the company incurred a debt of 19 million tenge. Since the enterprise had no property to repay the debt, the court declared it bankrupt.

However, tax authorities continued the audit and identified additional circumstances that caused the company's debt to grow to 1.2 billion tenge.

Court decision

In 2026, the court found the head guilty of deliberate bankruptcy and tax evasion. The verdict has already entered into legal force. The SRC does not specify what exact punishment the director received.

In addition, the bankruptcy manager filed a lawsuit to hold the head subsidiarily liable for the company's debts. If the court grants it, the director will have to answer for the enterprise's obligations in accordance with the procedure established by law. The lawsuit is currently under consideration.

Statistics

According to the SRC, from the beginning of 2025 to September 2026, law enforcement agencies opened 18 criminal cases on signs of deliberate bankruptcy and other unlawful actions. State revenue authorities also launched 51 administrative proceedings.

During this period, courts held 19 officials of bankrupt companies subsidiarily liable. Materials are being prepared against another 23 people.

The SRC emphasized that bankruptcy itself is not a violation of the law. However, this procedure does not release managers from liability for previously committed illegal actions.

Tax authorities continue to audit the financial activities of enterprises, the movement of money in accounts, changes in registration data, and tax reporting. To detect suspicious operations, the agency also uses automated analytical tools.

Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the Ministry of Finance will change the rules for forming the register of creditors during bankruptcy.