Two bloggers have been detained for blackmail in the Turkestan Region. According to the regional prosecutor's office, they demanded 100,000 tenge from the headteacher of a local school in exchange for removing a social media post that damaged his business reputation.
"Under the coordination of the Sayram District Prosecutor's Office, as a result of special operational measures, police officers detained two individuals upon receiving money in connection with blackmail," the statement read.
A pre-trial investigation has been launched by the relevant authorities under Part 2 of Article 194 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Blackmail"), and the suspects have been remanded in custody for 2 months.
According to some media outlets, the accused also extorted money from medical workers, not just the school headteacher.
Earlier, law enforcement officers detained a resident of Semey with multiple previous convictions for fraud. He is suspected of having, over several years, posed as a "blogger" and extorted money from workers on passenger trains passing through Semey under threat of releasing defamatory video material.