The prosecutor's office of the Zhetysu district of Almaty terminated an investigation into alleged fraud with losses exceeding $243,000 just two days after it began. The victim's money was not returned, but the supervisory authority deemed the situation a civil-law dispute. The applicant has appealed the decision.
HOW AN ALMATY RESIDENT LOST MORE THAN $243,000
As reported by Polites News, on 10 September 2026 a resident of Almaty was offered the chance to transfer yuan to bank accounts in China with the subsequent disbursement of dollars in Kazakhstan. The intermediary's commission was 1%.
Between 11 and 14 September, the man transferred 1.98 million yuan. He was later informed that the accounts of the Chinese companies had been blocked. The intermediary promised to resolve the problem but did not return the money.
The total loss amounted to $243,684, or around 110.5 million tenge.
WHY THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE CLOSED THE CASE IN TWO DAYS
On 23 September, the police launched an investigation under paragraph 1 of part 3 of article 190 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Large-scale fraud"). Already on 25 September, the acting district prosecutor terminated the case for lack of the elements of a criminal offence.
The prosecutor concluded that civil-law relations had arisen between the parties and that no evidence of intent to commit fraud had been established.
However, the applicant pointed to a contradiction in the ruling. The document simultaneously confirms unrecovered losses of $243,684 and asserts that the agreement was in fact performed and that the dollars were handed over to the victim.
At the same time, no evidence of the handover of the money is cited in the ruling.
WHICH CIRCUMSTANCES REMAINED UNVERIFIED
According to the applicant, in two days the law enforcement authorities did not identify all the participants in the operation, did not request bank documents and did not check the reasons for the blocking of the accounts in China.
The victim attempted to trace the movement of the money himself and identified a suspected chain of seven people. Some participants confirmed certain circumstances of the transfers but did not accept responsibility for returning the funds.
This information has not been procedurally verified, and the guilt of the persons mentioned has not been established.
The applicant also cites part 2 of article 35 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which provides that a case may be terminated for failure to prove the elements of a crime only after the possibilities for gathering additional evidence have been exhausted.
WHY THE QUESTION AROSE OF A MORE SERIOUS ARTICLE
Initially the case was investigated as large-scale fraud. However, the threshold for an especially large amount is 17.3 million tenge in 2026.
The stated loss of 110.5 million tenge exceeds this figure by more than six times.
The victim is asking for the grounds for classification under paragraph 2 of part 4 of article 190 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Especially large-scale fraud") to be examined; this provides for up to 10 years' imprisonment with confiscation of property.
THE VICTIM HAS APPEALED THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE'S DECISION
On 5 November, the man sent a complaint to the Almaty prosecutor's office demanding that the investigation be resumed, the participants in the operation identified, the movement of funds checked and measures taken to compensate the losses.
Under article 105 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a complaint is considered within seven days, and in exceptional cases within up to 15 days.
