A woman in Astana has been convicted of obtaining money from 52 citizens totalling 152 million tenge by falsely representing education services abroad.
According to the press office of the city prosecutor's office, the convicted woman was the founder of an educational centre. Using social media accounts and advertising in the media, she offered citizens courses with a guaranteed placement at European universities.
She also promised to issue international certificates, supposedly exempting recipients from a year of language study abroad. In the end, no documents were provided to anyone, and no teaching took place at all.
Furthermore, the convicted woman's company did not have international accreditation to carry out educational activities. For example, one of the victims, who intended to obtain an international certificate and prepare her child for study in Europe, suffered damages of around 3 million tenge.
The investigation established that the convicted woman had no actual ability to fulfil her obligations. Contracts with clients were concluded with criminal intent, and she used the stolen funds for personal purposes. In court, the accused did not admit guilt.
In the end, the woman was sentenced to 6 years in prison and banned from engaging in activities related to the organisation of educational institutions for 7 years. The victims' civil claims were satisfied.
For context, earlier the branches of the Tesla Education educational centre in Astana and Almaty suddenly ceased operations, leaving thousands of students who had paid for annual courses costing around one million tenge without classes. According to parents, the centre staff suddenly left work chats and the offices were closed.