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Kazakhstan’s financial authorities have pulled apart another large illegal online gambling operation — and this one was clearly operating at scale.
The investigation, led by the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) in Almaty, centers on the unauthorized operation of the 1Win platform inside the country. According to investigators, the group behind it allegedly built a network of companies registered under nominee individuals, effectively creating distance between the organizers and the gambling activity itself.
Through the platform, users were reportedly able to access more than 11,000 gambling products, including casino games, sports betting and esports markets. Payments were accepted via bank cards, electronic systems and cryptocurrency — a structure that allowed the operation to process significant financial flows while complicating oversight.
Authorities say the suspected organizers have now been placed on an international wanted list. A court has ordered their arrest in absentia and approved the confiscation of assets believed to be tied to the scheme.
Luxury Assets and Frozen Funds
The list of seized property offers a glimpse into the scale of the business.
Investigators confiscated a Mercedes Maybach S500, a Lamborghini Huracán and a Toyota Land Cruiser. They also seized 151 million tenge in cash, along with smaller amounts held in U.S. dollars and euros. Cryptocurrency assets were frozen as part of the financial probe.
In total, officials say more than 420 million tenge worth of property has been transferred to state ownership while the investigation continues.
While asset seizures are often headline-grabbing, they typically represent only part of the overall turnover in cases like this — particularly when cryptocurrency and layered payment systems are involved.
A Separate Operation in Aktobe
At the same time, a parallel case in the Aktobe region highlights how widespread the problem may be.
There, the FMA — working alongside prosecutors — shut down another illegal online gambling operation that allegedly ran between 2022 and 2024.
According to investigators, bets were accepted through bank transfers. Players were then registered manually on the platform and provided login credentials. To conceal the origins of the funds, the group allegedly relied on “drops” — individuals whose bank cards were used to withdraw and circulate proceeds.
Authorities estimate that the operation generated between 150,000 and 200,000 tenge per day, accumulating more than 306 million tenge in total income. Part of that money was allegedly used to purchase vehicles, including a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Lexus EC 250, which were registered under third parties in an apparent attempt to shield them from confiscation. Those vehicles have since been frozen.
Unlike the Almaty case, the alleged organizers in Aktobe are currently in custody as the pre-trial investigation moves forward.
A Wider Underground Market
These cases come amid broader concerns about Kazakhstan’s underground online gambling economy.
Previous reports have suggested that more than 600 billion tenge may have flowed through illegal online casino schemes nationwide. Some of those operations allegedly relied on gray payment terminals, fictitious agreements with bookmakers and coordinated payment networks. Cryptocurrency turnover in certain schemes reportedly reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
What links many of these cases is structure. Shell companies. Third-party registrations. Multi-channel payment systems. In some instances, cross-border infrastructure.
Kazakhstan has tightened gambling regulations in recent years, restricting activity to licensed operators and designated zones. But as these investigations show, online platforms operate differently. They scale quickly, move money digitally and — when structured carefully — can function for years before being dismantled.
The latest seizures mark a visible enforcement step. Whether they meaningfully reduce the broader underground market remains an open question.
