Since the start of the year, the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) has identified 34 bloggers involved in advertising illegal online gambling. Among them are Qaysar Qamza, Shyngyskhan Kopbayev, Tauirzhan Aitmakhanov, Nail Turganov, Dilyara Amanqosqyzy and others.
According to the agency's press service, 11 of them have already been brought to administrative responsibility under Article 455 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan (CAO RK) ("Violation of legislation on advertising"). Materials regarding another 23 influencers have been submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Information for further action.
It is reported that a significant number of bloggers systematically break the law, using their social networks to promote online casinos. In particular, Shyngyskhan Kopbayev (hip-hop artist "Baller") has been held accountable five times this year alone for similar violations. An administrative case was also initiated against blogger and musician Rinat Shamsyrak, who has an audience of over 600,000 followers, for advertising online casinos.
Furthermore, blogger Qaysar Qamza used his Telegram channel to systematically promote illegal gambling. He distributed instructions on how to register with online casinos and published staged videos featuring "winners", misleading his subscribers. According to the FMA, he conspicuously spent his earnings on a lavish lifestyle, travelling to countries including Southeast Asia, Turkey and the UAE.
Similarly, Nail Turganov earned over 8 million tenge from advertising casinos. Meanwhile, Nurgazy Toktarov ("Nakonay Qarapaiym") not only actively encouraged users to gamble via social networks but also lost nearly half of the 15.8 million tenge he earned from advertising in those same online casinos.
Among the offenders is also Mariyam Kulzhabayeva ("@oomariko"), who received 350,000 tenge for posting a story urging people to register on a casino website. Zukhra Khakiyeva, Diana Khalmetova, Asem Aubakirova, Arina Baikova, Kumisay Aiymbetova and others were also involved in similar activities.
According to FMA representatives, advertising online casinos is a direct gateway to gambling addiction, which destroys families and leads to financial losses for citizens. Despite this, bloggers continue to collaborate with advertisers, paying fines and then returning to their previous activities.
Given these circumstances, the Agency intends to review the actions of offenders in the context of Part 5 of Article 28 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Aiding and abetting the illegal gambling business"). Furthermore, the issue of introducing criminal liability for advertising online casinos, similar to the promotion of financial pyramids, has been raised.
The agency has called on bloggers to cease such collaborations.
"We draw the attention of bloggers whose activities are directly related to the dissemination of advertising content. The Agency urges them to refrain from participating in the promotion of illegal gambling, showing responsibility towards their subscribers," the statement reads.