Since 16 September 2025, letting someone else use your bank card, online banking or payment app in exchange for a cut, or moving money through your account on someone else's behalf for a fee, has been a crime in Kazakhstan. The rule is Article 232-1 of the Criminal Code, and the top sentence is seven years plus confiscation of property. Locally the person in the middle is called a dropper. Selling your own USDT into your own card is not what this article targets. Taking P2P payments for another trader, or buying crypto for someone with your account and passing it on, is where you need to read the text.
The offence is the handover or the transfer itself. Nowhere does the article require that you knew the money came from fraud, so “I had no idea it was stolen” does much less work here than people expect. Below: the seven parts in plain English, then the crypto situations they map onto.
What the seven parts of Article 232-1 cover
The official Russian title is long. In substance it reads: unlawfully granting, transferring or obtaining access to a bank account, payment instrument or identification means, and unlawfully making payments or money transfers. The seven parts fall into three groups.
- Parts 1 to 3 — handing over what is yours. Unlawfully giving a third party access to your own bank account, payment instrument or identification means, or passing them to a third party to use, for material reward or property benefit. A benefit in a “significant amount” moves the case to Part 2; a “large amount” moves it to Part 3.
- Parts 4 to 6 — moving money for others. Unlawfully making payments or transfers from an account, payment instrument or identification means in the interests of, or to, a third party, for reward. Again three tiers by size of benefit.
- Part 7 — the buyer of accounts. Unlawfully obtaining control of someone else's account, payment instrument or identification means in order to make unlawful payments. No fine is available here; the range starts at three years.
Every part carries confiscation of property. The heaviest option in each part, with fines converted at the 2026 monthly calculation index (MCI, МРП in Russian) of 4,325 tenge:
| Part | Who it describes | Maximum fine | Maximum custody or restriction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lets someone else use their card or account | 160 MCI (about KZT 692,000) | Arrest up to 50 days |
| 2 | Same, benefit in a significant amount | 3,000 MCI (about KZT 12.98 million) | 2 years |
| 3 | Same, benefit in a large amount | 4,000 MCI (about KZT 17.3 million) | 3 years |
| 4 | Receives or sends money for someone else | 2,000 MCI (about KZT 8.65 million) | 2 years |
| 5 | Same, benefit in a significant amount | 3,000 MCI (about KZT 12.98 million) | 3 years |
| 6 | Same, benefit in a large amount | 5,000 MCI (about KZT 21.63 million) | 5 years |
| 7 | Buys or takes control of other people's accounts | No fine option | 3 to 7 years |
The table shows ceilings only; courts can also choose correctional labour, community service or restricted freedom within each part. “Significant” and “large” amounts are defined in the general part of the Code. We have not checked those thresholds, so they are not converted here.
Five offers crypto users hear, and where each one lands
None of these pitches is new on Kazakh P2P chats or job boards. What follows compares them with the wording of the article. It is not case law, and how a real case is charged depends on investigators and the court.
“Lend me your Kaspi to take buyers' payments. You keep a percentage.” Usually a P2P merchant whose own card is restricted, or who wants to spread turnover across more names. You hand over the card details or even your banking login, and forward whatever arrives.
Giving access matches Part 1; forwarding the money yourself matches Part 4. The percentage is the reward the text talks about.
“Buy some USDT on your exchange account for me. I'll send you tenge, plus something for your trouble.” This one feels harmless because the account never leaves your hands. On the wording, though, you are receiving and paying money in a third party's interest for a fee, which sits close to Part 4. Do it for enough people, often enough, and a second problem appears: running an unlicensed exchange service, covered in where unlicensed P2P becomes a crime.
“Remote finance assistant. Open a new card, receive and forward payments as instructed, paid daily.” A job ad on the outside, Parts 1 to 6 on the inside. When the article came into force, nur.kz's explainer singled out exactly these “easy side jobs”: requests to open a card and accept transfers, or to hand over an account “for testing” or “for convenience”.
“Your verified exchange account is just sitting there. Rent it to me monthly.” An exchange account is not a bank account, and we found no official view on whether it counts as an “identification means” under this article, so we draw no conclusion. What is certain: the account was verified with your ID, every payment the renter makes through it sits on record under your name, and that is where any trace leads first.
“My card's frozen. Let me use yours for a few days, I'll buy you dinner.” A friend, small sums, nothing that looks like business. Parts 1 and 4 both mention reward or property benefit, so a favour with nothing in return does not fit the description neatly. But the first half of Part 1, “unlawfully giving access”, can be read either with or without that condition. And you do not know why your friend's card was frozen in the first place.
A refusal can be one line: “I don't lend my card or banking login. If something needs paying, I'll make the transfer myself.” You don't have to quote the Code or decide whether the other person is a scammer.
Why “I didn't know it was scam money” is a weak defence
Article 232-1 is separate from fraud. A fraud charge has to show you took part in deceiving someone. Article 232-1 only asks whether you handed over access or moved money for someone else, and did it for a benefit. Where the money came from is not part of the test. nur.kz reads it the same way: the wording is neutral and does not distinguish between people who knew and people who didn't.
When a victim reports a fraud, police and banks follow the transfers, and the first name they reach is the holder of the receiving card. Under Article 232-1 that holder, having given access for a benefit, can be the one facing charges.
If you trade P2P with your own card, the risk to plan for is different: you lend nothing to anyone, but a buyer pays you with a victim's money. Then you need to show you are an ordinary seller, not a link in someone's cash-out chain. That rests on order history, chat logs and payer names; see P2P triangle scams and proving the source of funds to your bank.
Already said yes? The exemption in the note
Article 232-1 ends with a note. In substance: a person who commits this offence for the first time, reports it voluntarily and actively helps uncover or stop it is released from criminal liability, provided their conduct does not amount to some other offence.
All of those conditions apply together. First time, voluntary, active help. And the note covers only Article 232-1; if you also knowingly helped move fraud proceeds, that part is outside it. If you have already lent a card, a sensible order is:
- Stop. Accept nothing more, forward nothing more. Block any card you can block yourself, change your online and mobile banking passwords, and sign out devices you don't recognise.
- Keep the records. Export the chats, the other person's contact details and every incoming and outgoing transfer before anyone deletes an account or you change phones.
- See a lawyer, then report. The note rewards voluntary reporting and active help. How, where and how much to say is a decision to make with a licensed criminal defence lawyer. The police number in Kazakhstan is 102.
If the bank has already frozen your card, that runs on a separate track; frozen card: the first 72 hours covers the bank side.
Questions
I sell my own USDT and receive tenge on my own card. Does Article 232-1 apply to me?
The article targets giving a third party use of your account, or moving money for a third party for a reward. Selling your own coins and receiving the price into your own card is not what it describes. The case to watch is a payment from someone other than the buyer: that money may belong to a fraud victim. See P2P triangle scams.
A relative used my card for one payment and I got nothing for it. Is that a problem?
Parts 1 and 4 both refer to material reward or property benefit, so an unpaid favour does not match the description. Whether the first half of Part 1, unlawfully giving access to a third party, also needs a reward can be read two ways, and we found no official interpretation. The safe habit: never hand over your card or banking login; if a relative needs something paid, make the transfer yourself and note what it was for.
How much is one MCI in tenge?
The monthly calculation index (МРП) is set each year by the national budget law. Under the 2026–2028 budget law, one MCI in 2026 is 4,325 tenge. The Part 1 maximum of 160 MCI is about 692,000 tenge; the Part 6 maximum of 5,000 MCI is about 21,625,000 tenge. Which year's value a court applies is up to the judgment.
The law and the explainers behind this guide
All pages checked in October 2026. The Әділет page loads the Code's text by script; the wording of each part was compared against a reprint of the Code marked as added on 2026-09-07. Where they differ, the current text on Әділет governs.
- Уголовный кодекс Республики Казахстан Әділет, official legal information systemCurrent text of the Criminal Code; Article 232-1 and its note.
- Статья 232-1 УК РК Reprint of the Code, marked as added 2026-09-07Version used to check the penalties in each part and the note.
- В Казахстане введена уголовная ответственность за дропперство Kapital.kz, 2025-09-16, citing the Interior Ministry press officeIn force from 16 September 2025; penalties from a fine to seven years.
- Можно ли получить срок за перевод, не зная о мошенничестве nur.kz, 2025-09-17Reading of the neutral wording; warnings about side-job ads and “test” account requests.
- Утвержден новый МРП на 2026 год в Казахстане Tengrinews, 2025-11-26MCI of 4,325 tenge for 2026, set by the 2026–2028 budget law.
This guide compares common offers with the wording of the article. It is not legal advice on any particular case; if you are already involved, talk to a licensed criminal defence lawyer.