A court in Almaty sentenced former editor-in-chief of Orda.kz Gulnar Bazhkenova to 8 years in prison. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
According to the verdict, she is also banned for 5 years from engaging in activities in the fields of mass media, journalism, blogging, public events and other public activities, as well as holding leadership and financially responsible positions in organizations related to the media.
Bazhkenova was found guilty of committing crimes under paragraph 2 of part 4 of Article 189 (misappropriation or embezzlement of entrusted property), paragraph 2 of part 2 of Article 214 (illegal entrepreneurship), paragraphs 1 and 3 of part 2 of Article 274 (dissemination of knowingly false information and theft) of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan.
According to the court, between November 2024 and December 2025, Bazhkenova, being the head of LLP "O", used her official position to embezzle 88,144,127 tenge from the company's accounts. She transferred these funds to the account of an individual entrepreneur under her control, under the pretext of paying for fictitious advertising, professional and scientific services. She also paid for her son's tuition at a private international school.
In addition, without registering as an entrepreneur, she earned 121.2 million tenge from buying and selling apartments in Almaty, but did not pay taxes on it.
According to the court, in 2024-2025, while serving as editor-in-chief of an information and analytical portal, Bazhkenova conspired with a group of people. They repeatedly disseminated knowingly false information through internet resources and social networks in 8 episodes. As a result, significant harm was caused to the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, organizations and the state.
On the basis of part 1 of Article 74 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, due to the presence of a child under 14 years of age, the execution of the sentence was postponed for 2 years. Also, 95,992,350 tenge was collected as compensation for material damage, 2,879,770 tenge as state duty, and 6,800,000 tenge as payment for legal assistance to the injured party and procedural costs.