More than 30 residents of Kazakhstan have fallen victim to a fraudulent scheme while trying to sell their cars through a dealership. Owners entrusted their vehicles to a company that promised quick sales at market prices, but they ended up with neither money nor cars, and the company's employees stopped answering calls, according to infohub.kz.
Victims said they contacted a company that guaranteed to sell their cars quickly without lowering the price. More than 30 people left their vehicles at the dealership, but when they returned to the office later, they found no employees and no cars.
One victim, Askhat Karakul, shared details: "I found this company through social media. They promised to sell my car for 12.2 million tenge and transfer the money within three to four days. Then they started making excuses, citing a contract that stated a 14-day period. That was several months ago!"
According to the victims, the cars were re-registered under the company director's name the very next day after they were handed over. Some vehicles were resold multiple times or ended up in pawnshops. Others still remain on the dealership lot, but the owners cannot access them. The car owners believe the actual number of victims could be much higher.
The victims turned to law enforcement in hopes of compensation. Police stated that the suspects have already been detained. Yernar Saydildin, a representative of the Almaty Region Police Department, said: "A pre-trial investigation is being conducted on this matter on grounds of large-scale fraud. A full range of necessary investigative actions is underway. A special task force has been created to ensure the investigation is thorough and objective. The progress is under the special control of the Almaty Region Police Department leadership."