Two citizens of Kazakhstan have been sentenced in neighboring Kyrgyzstan for organizing the distribution of counterfeit US dollars in a case that caused significant financial damage.

The verdict was issued in Bishkek, where the court found the two men guilty of circulating fake currency and sentenced each to five years in prison. After serving their terms, they will be deported from Kyrgyzstan, The Caspian Post reports via Kazakh media.

Investigators said the scheme dates back to December 2023, when the suspects brought $70,000 in counterfeit $100 bills into Bishkek. The fake currency was then handed to an accomplice who recruited local residents to help distribute it.

Part of the fake money was deposited through banking terminals and exchanged at private exchange offices, while a small portion of legitimate cash-about $2,000-was later transferred back across the border into Kazakhstan.

The total damage at around 952,000 som (over 5 million tenge). Several Kyrgyz citizens involved in the operation received fines for concealing the crime.

The case went through appeal proceedings, but the Supreme Court upheld the original verdict, only slightly reducing the remaining prison term under an amnesty ruling.