Police in Kokshetau are investigating a large-scale fraud that left five people out of pocket after they were promised help buying cars at auction at a bargain price but received neither the vehicles nor their money back, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to investigators, a 40-year-old local man devised the scheme back in 2023. He offered relatives and acquaintances the chance to buy cars at auction in Astana, assuring them he could arrange the purchase at a reduced price.
To make the offer more convincing, he proposed staged payments: an initial deposit first, with the remainder due after the car was delivered. Trusting the man they knew, the victims handed over large sums of money.
One of the victims, a 38-year-old Kokshetau resident, gave the suspect 11 million 559 thousand tenge. Over three years, the man collected more than 41 million tenge from the five victims.
But the promises were never kept: the victims received neither cars nor refunds, while the suspect offered various excuses. When they began filing complaints with police, the man went into hiding and was wanted for a time.
The suspect has now been detained and is in custody, and the pre-trial investigation continues.