A major fraud has been uncovered in Ust-Kamenogorsk, where a local resident cheated 25 people out of more than 186 million tenge by promising to help them buy housing under a state program. As it turned out, the fraudster rented an apartment and passed it off as the buyers' future home, reports infohub.kz.
According to the press service of the East Kazakhstan Regional Police Department, the 30-year-old man, from November 2024 to April 2026, persuaded citizens to hand over money in cash or via bank transfers. He offered apartments at attractive prices and promised to handle all the paperwork.
After receiving the funds, additional expenses would appear: registration of the housing, document processing, and other payments. To further convince the victims that the deal was real, the man rented an apartment and showed it as their future home. People continued to hand over money, expecting to receive the keys soon.
However, they never got the promised housing or documents. Twenty-five residents of the East Kazakhstan region suffered from the suspect's actions, with total damages amounting to 186,445,000 tenge.
The suspect has been detained and taken to the police. He is currently in a temporary detention facility. During interrogation, the man admitted his guilt.