A major fraud case has surfaced in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, where a man posing as an official from the Department of Economic Investigations deceived a local business out of 25 million tenge.

According to investigators, the suspect approached the head of a company in September 2025, falsely claiming he could use his relations to remove a medical institution from a list of entities scheduled for inspection, The Caspian Post reports via Kazakh media.

The payment was made under the pretense of securing that protection.

The scheme was entirely fraudulent, with the individual having no real affiliation with the agency he impersonated.

The suspect has been detained and placed in a temporary holding facility as the investigation continues.