Technical error as a business model: how Timur Turlov and his Freedom Bank turned system failures into a method of seizing client funds

Freedom Bank has started issuing “letters of fate” to clients, announcing that funds will be taken from their accounts due to a supposed “technical failure.” These retroactive withdrawals — in some cases amounting to hundreds of millions of tenge — concern operations made between September 2024 and April 2025.

This case is the latest link in a chain of scandals surrounding the bank, controlled by businessman Timur Turlov. KazTAG’s investigation shows that behind the outwardly technical error lies a systemic problem affecting the fundamental principles of trust between the bank and its clients. The story of the “failure” in the Forex service is intertwined with criminal cases against top managers, the movement of funds to offshore accounts, and the tragic fates of defrauded depositors.

The situation is exacerbated by the surprising passivity of regulatory authorities, leaving the bank’s clients to face a financial machine alone, one that uses legal mechanisms to seize money. This report attempts to reconstruct the chronology of events and understand where a technical error ends and a deliberate scheme begins.