Recently, cases of intentional bankruptcy have become increasingly common, where companies, unable to meet their obligations or deliberately seeking to evade them, are declared bankrupt through court proceedings. However, such actions no longer go unpunished.

The concept of intentional bankruptcy is established by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy,” according to which it refers to deliberate actions of a founder, official, or individual entrepreneur aimed at evading obligations to creditors through the disposal or concealment of property.

Indicators of intentional bankruptcy may include entering into knowingly disadvantageous or fictitious transactions, withdrawal of assets, refusal to collect receivables, concealment or transfer of property, artificial increase of liabilities, deliberate destruction of management and accounting systems, and other unlawful actions.

The legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including the above-mentioned Law, the Code of Administrative Offenses, and the Criminal Code, provides for personal liability of founders and company officials.

Where bankruptcy is determined to have been intentional, the controlling person may be held subsidiarily liable by court order. In such cases, the company’s debts may be recovered from the personal assets of the responsible individual.

Moreover, subsidiary liability may be imposed even after the completion of bankruptcy proceedings if the responsible person is found guilty as a result of administrative or criminal investigations.

During 2024–2025, following analyses of all debtors undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, 120 administrative cases and more than 44 criminal cases were initiated based on indications of intentional bankruptcy.

The state revenue authorities plan to further enhance the detection of intentional bankruptcy through the use of automated analytical tools capable of identifying suspicious transactions, links between companies, and debtor behavior patterns. To this end, active work has begun on the automation of rehabilitation and bankruptcy procedures.

For example, in 2024, a former director of a company in the Zhambyl Region was convicted by a court of intentional bankruptcy. In 2025, the court ordered the individual to compensate creditors more than KZT 45 million for assets withdrawn from the company’s bank accounts prior to its declaration of bankruptcy.

Such cases are not isolated. In 2025 alone, courts issued more than 12 similar decisions against responsible individuals. With the introduction of automated mechanisms for detecting unlawful debtor activities, the state revenue authorities expect to improve the effectiveness of materials referred to law enforcement agencies through stronger analytical justification and a more systematic evidentiary framework, which will consequently increase the number of claims filed with the courts.

Thus, bankruptcy is no longer a means for unscrupulous entrepreneurs to evade responsibility. Instead, it is becoming an effective mechanism for restoring fairness, aimed at maximizing creditor recovery through holding responsible persons personally liable. Limitation periods may be extended, and both financial and criminal liability are real and enforceable.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/minfin/press/news/details/1243160?lang=ru