Aiman Mussakhodzhayeva, People’s Artist of the Kazakh SSR and Hero of Labor of Kazakhstan, and a former border guard sought to regain their positions through a bribe — by turning to a con artist.
In early July 2025, the Almalinsky District Court of Almaty handed down a verdict to 37-year-old Arman Tazhenov, a skilled fraudster with a gift for persuasion.
In the spring of 2024, in Shymkent, Tazhenov met a former officer of the KNB Border Service who had been dismissed from his post. The ex-border guard was eager to return to work. Tazhenov introduced himself as the nephew of KNB Chairman Yermek Sagimbayev and claimed he could help — for a price, of course.
The fraudster’s words sounded convincing, and the position in the Border Service was considered so “lucrative” that the dismissed officer handed over $10,000 to the supposed “nephew” without hesitation. Two months later, Tazhenov said the matter was almost resolved but required an additional 2 million tenge. The “victim” (if one can call him that) transferred the amount to the con artist’s account — after which Tazhenov disappeared and stopped responding.
Around the same time, through a chain of intermediaries, Tazhenov was introduced to one of Kazakhstan’s most prominent cultural figures — Aiman Mussakhodzhayeva, a violinist, People’s Artist of the Kazakh SSR, Hero of Labor of Kazakhstan, and a music educator who founded the Kazakh National University of Arts (KazNUI).
In January 2024, she was retired from her position as rector of KazNUI, but the national artist struggled to accept it and sought ways to return to work.
The “nephew of the KNB chairman” seemed like the perfect solution. Given the high-level position, Tazhenov demanded a sizable fee — $200,000. Mussakhodzhayeva agreed to the amount, as her husband, businessman Askar Bekbayev, could afford such expenses.
The con artist received a $100,000 advance in cash in Almaty. Some time later, using the same scheme described above, he claimed the matter would soon be resolved and requested the second half of the sum. All communication with Tazhenov was conducted through an intermediary, who even suggested temporarily transferring ownership of his car to the “nephew” as collateral, with the remainder to be paid after the issue was resolved. After that, Tazhenov vanished.
Mussakhodzhayeva never returned to her position and eventually turned to law enforcement as a victim of fraud. The deceived former border guard did the same.
At trial, Tazhenov pleaded guilty, compensated the victims, and was sentenced to a four-year suspended sentence.
What stands out in this case is the blind faith of Kazakh citizens in the power of corruption — a vulnerability that the con artist skillfully exploited. After all, it wasn’t just the former border guard or national artist Mussakhodzhayeva who believed in the abilities of the “nephew of the KNB chairman,” but also her husband — described in the media as a “businessman and philanthropist” — as well as various intermediaries and acquaintances of the victims.
Photo from freshcity.info
