After emigrating, former Russian billionaire Timur Turlov has become one of Kazakhstan’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, though critics claim his financial schemes are now actively expanding in Astana.

Nevertheless, certain dubious circumstances have simultaneously emerged, prompting Timur Turlov, the founder of the brokerage firm Freedom, to leave Russia.

It turns out that the fast-made billionaire was deeply afraid of being at the center of a scandal involving the bankruptcy of the "Association" bank in Nizhny Novgorod, despite having a direct connection to the activities of this financial institution. He worked closely with his long-time friend and business partner Stanislav Mashagin, who, unable to emigrate with Turlov, became embroiled in a high-profile criminal case for siphoning off millions to Cyprus. As a result, Mashagin received a prison sentence of 3 years and 3 months in a penal colony.

However, shocking facts also surfaced in the story with Stanislav Mashagin: it turns out that, since 2006, this business partner of Turlov had been diligently building new companies in Kazakhstan. Among these entities was a certain Akashidatacenter, which is currently under investigation by Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies, as are Turlov’s companies, which have already deceived dozens of trusting investors.

The New Mavrodi and His MMM in Astana

Scandals surrounding the Russian billionaire Turlov in Kazakhstan have been ongoing for months.

As early as 2023, Mr. Turlov obtained a Kazakhstani passport and began acquiring assets—banks and brokerage firms with licenses, microfinance organizations, media outlets, online stores, and more.

Before Mr. Turlov could fully distance himself from the scandal with the "Association" bank in Nizhny Novgorod, a loud scandal erupted in his new homeland, Kazakhstan! Investors accused Turlov’s company, Freedom Finance, of fraudulent schemes.

Timur Turlov

They demanded an investigation.

This scandal broke out at the end of May 2025. Local investors accused Freedom Finance’s top management of schemes to siphon off funds.

At the center of the scandal was an offshore subsidiary, FFIN Brokerage Services Inc., registered in Belize.

Hundreds of outraged clients testified that they were persuaded to invest through FFIN Brokerage in a structure that lacks a Kazakhstani license and operates outside the jurisdiction. The contracts were signed in Freedom Finance offices and issued in the name of FFIN.

Tens of millions of tenge disappeared into "space."

The victims’ lawyer compared Timur Turlov to the infamous creator of the largest financial pyramid, MMM, Sergei Mavrodi.

Can anyone forget Mavrodi’s MMM pyramid?

She also accused Turlov-Mavrodi of diverting investors’ money to offshore accounts.

A victim of Timur Turlov’s schemes, Aida Lukyanova from the North Kazakhstan region, on behalf of other affected individuals, filed a complaint with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev about Turlov. She urged the head of state to stop the Russian billionaire’s activities in Kazakhstan. At the political forum "Victims of Old Kazakhstan" in Almaty, Zhanna Kapparova, speaking on behalf of her mother Karlygash Kapparova, who also lost a significant sum, similarly appealed to President Tokayev.

She demanded an audit of the financial activities of Freedom Finance and affiliated companies, accountability for the architects of schemes to siphon off millions to offshore accounts, the creation of a list of financial pyramids, and the return of all funds to investors.

Passport of a Citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Subsequently, another criminal case linked to Freedom Finance was initiated—concerning the issuance of Individual Identification Numbers (IIN) to Russians.

Searches in Abu Dhabi Plaza

In April of this year, 2025, another criminal story exploded—a case involving the company Akashi Data Center PLC.

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Among the beneficiaries are both Timur Turlov and his close friend Stanislav Olegovich Mashagin, who even ended up in prison as early as February 2023.

On April 18, a search was conducted in Astana at the company’s office located in Abu Dhabi Plaza. Investigative actions were carried out as part of a criminal case involving large-scale fraud.

Abu Dhabi Plaza

It should also be noted that Mr. Mashagin, at the age of 34, managed to achieve a great deal together with Mr. Turlov.

He was a founder of several companies, including JSC "Russian Infrastructure," LLC "OKA Oil," LLC "Van der Black," and others.

Incidentally, since 2022, a company named "Infrastructure of Kazakhstan" has been operating in Astana, also founded by Mr. Mashagin.

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After the searches in the shopping center, it became known that another criminal case was initiated for large-scale fraud involving a former employee of a subcontracting construction company linked to the construction of a data processing center.

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And here, once again, one of the ultimate beneficiaries turned out to be Timur Turlov. The crime in question occurred in the Nurinsky district of Astana.

The Case of "VestaStroyService" Company

In the new criminal case, a certain company called "VestaStroyService" is implicated.

On the website of AkashidatacenterPLC, LLP "VestaStroyService" is listed as the general contractor for the project.

The head of LLP "VestaStroyService" is a certain Stanislav Vasilyev, while the founder was the aforementioned "Infrastructure of Kazakhstan," where Stanislav Mashagin is listed as the founder—the current head of AkashidatacenterPLC.

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In mid-May of this year, information about a new criminal case under investigation by the police of the Nurinsky district of Astana was officially confirmed.

Stanislav Mashagin, let us remind once again, is Turlov’s business partner. He is also a shareholder of the Russian JSC "Volga Capital," which was implicated in embezzlement at the "Association" bank.

However, the withdrawal of assets was also attributed to Turlov, who quickly fled to Kazakhstan.

JSC "Volga Capital" turned out to be a company with a severely tarnished reputation, accompanied by a trail of arbitration cases (35 in total) worth 5.5 billion rubles!

And it was through JSC "Volga Capital" that money was siphoned off to Cyprus from the "Association" bank…

This was covered in detail by the publication Frank Media.

Furthermore, since Kazakhstan does not allow dual citizenship, Mr. Turlov had to renounce his Russian citizenship. However, it turns out he also held a passport from Saint Kitts and Nevis, a tiny state in the northern part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea.

Now, together with Mashagin—as it turns out—he is pushing new projects in Kazakhstan.

Timur Turlov

In particular, Kazakhstani media reported that in February of last year, 2024, Timur Turlov requested funds from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan for the Data Processing Center of AkashidatacenterPLC. The Development Bank of Kazakhstan’s website stated that AkashidatacenterPLC had applied for a loan to build a Data Processing Center for 4,000 devices.

The beneficiaries of the company were listed as Timur Ruslanovich Turlov, Stanislav Olegovich Mashagin, and others.

And here, once again, there are shocking news. It turns out that in July 2024, Mashagin was released from pretrial detention to house arrest, so it is unclear whether he is currently serving his sentence in a penal colony or if he, too, managed to escape to Kazakhstan.

Business by Blueprint?

It remains to be added that 38-year-old Timur Turlov, the founder of the brokerage company Freedom, thoroughly prepared for his forced emigration: he chose a platform in Kazakhstan in advance.

First, he moved his family, and Mr. Turlov has a large one.

The Turlov Family

Then he began to "relocate" his business.

Yet, before he could properly settle in, scandals erupted: it seems he transferred his business from Moscow to Astana using the same blueprint.

It was 2022 on the calendar, and the Special Military Operation (SVO) had begun. Soon after, Turlov acquired a Kazakhstani citizenship passport. He focused on developing business projects in Kazakhstan, which, as it turned out, he had been cultivating since 2006.

Shortly after Mr. Turlov left Russia, it became known that the Arbitration Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region seized the property of Turlov and his accomplices, including Stanislav Mashagin, as part of a lawsuit by the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA). The lawsuit was related to the bankruptcy of the "Association" bank. A 49% stake in LLC "Marine Operation Services," owned by Mr. Turlov, was seized. The value of the assets was €18.9 million and $2 million.

The lawsuit is connected to a dispute over the withdrawal of assets from the "Association" bank.

"Association" Bank

In total, the Arbitration Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region was considering four separate disputes based on DIA claims to recover losses from several individuals due to the withdrawal of assets. A criminal case was initiated regarding the theft of financial resources from the credit institution. The Bank of Russia revoked the bank’s license back in 2019 because its reports lacked a foreign currency balance at VTB Europe Bank amounting to 3.8 billion rubles. This amount was more than double the bank’s own capital.

The unprofitable foreign currency transactions for the bank were conducted in favor of Cypriot offshore companies linked to Timur Turlov.

However, it seems that Mr. Turlov emerged from this murky story without any losses.

New Scams

But let’s return to Kazakhstan. Here, at the beginning of November, a wild story unfolded.

On November 3, Freedom Bank, owned by Mr. Turlov, notified some of its clients of its intention to withhold funds from their accounts, explaining it as a correction of the consequences of a technical glitch.

The deductions affected transactions conducted between September 2024 and April 2025.

It seems the hotline didn’t help

The total amount, according to outraged clients’ estimates, amounts to hundreds of millions of tenge.

This incident became another link in a chain of scandals related to the bank controlled by the newfound Mavrodi.

The story of the glitch in the Forex service intertwines with criminal cases against top managers and the withdrawal of millions to offshore accounts.

Freedom Bank clients have already started receiving letters indicating that the financial institution plans to seize significant sums from them. Later, clients of Freedom began receiving follow-up letters specifying the exact amount to be seized.

For some, it’s one and a half to two million tenge, while for others, it’s 150-200 million tenge.

Allegedly, the transactions did not go through the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), so they are being nullified, and the profits are being confiscated by the bank.

Apparently, the bank’s services detected a critical technical glitch in the Forex service, which manifested as incorrect processing of applications on the bank’s side that did not go through KASE.

The bank has already threatened those who disagree, stating that it will be forced to file a complaint with law enforcement agencies to hold them criminally liable under Article 190 (fraud) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

How long will Mr. Turlov, with all his scams, manage to hold on in Kazakhstan?