In the East Kazakhstan Region, one of the deputy directors of the branch of the NLC "Government for Citizens" has been detained on suspicion of illegal gold mining and unauthorised use of subsoil.
According to the press service of the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA), the suspect, together with accomplices, organised the illegal development of a deposit in the valley of the Shybynka River in the Ulansky District.
For this purpose, they registered a company under their control, EastGoldStone LLP, and carried out mining for two years without a licence, using heavy special equipment and disrupting the natural riverbed.
The environmental damage from the criminal activity is estimated at more than 300 million tenge. During searches, 6.7 kg of gold worth 382 million tenge, as well as 10 million tenge and $56,000 (30.5 million tenge), were seized from the suspects.
The suspects have been arrested for two months, and the investigation is ongoing.
It should be recalled that in February a similar scheme was stopped in the Zhetikara District of the Kostanay Region. There, a land plot allocated for agricultural production was used for illegal gold mining.