Since the beginning of 2024, employees of the Department of Economic Investigations (DEI) in the Akmola Region have identified 16 offences in the financial and economic spheres, including cases of illegal gold trading, cryptocurrency transactions, distribution of counterfeit goods, and the organisation of financial pyramids. This was reported by the deputy head of the department, Almas Baimurzin.
According to the 'Kazinform' news agency, between 2024 and 2025, the DEI suppressed the activity of three organised groups involved in the extraction, purchase, and sale of refined gold, as well as the manufacture of jewellery. Members of two groups were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, while two criminal cases have been opened against the third organised criminal group, and a pre-trial investigation is underway.
Furthermore, at the beginning of June, department employees shut down an underground workshop producing counterfeit household chemicals. It was noted that the offenders used the 'Domestos' trademark without the permission of the rights holder. During a search, they seized over 4,000 bottles of finished product, equipment, empty containers, labels, and chemical concentrates.
Almas Baimurzin also stated that the DEI had liquidated several structural divisions of financial pyramids. For example, in 2024, branches of the financial pyramids 'Charoit' and 'Lime Academy' were closed, and their organisers were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Another four individuals were held criminally liable for advertising these schemes.
In 2025, department employees suppressed the activity of structural divisions of another four financial pyramids: 'Buyers Union', 'S-Group', 'Lemon', and three branches of 'Asar Baspana' in Shchuchinsk, Stepnogorsk, and Atbasar.
The deputy head of the DEI also stated that two instances of illegal cryptocurrency transactions were identified in the region. It was noted that the individuals involved generated an income exceeding 800 million tenge. A pre-trial investigation is underway. One case involving a similar episode with an estimated turnover of 186 million tenge has already been sent to court. In connection with the case, $4,000 (1.8 million tenge) was seized.
According to Baimurzin, in the first few months of this year, the department blocked eight chat rooms and social media accounts that were advertising online casinos and financial pyramids, as well as illegally exchanging cryptocurrency.