An entrepreneur is demanding 4.5 million tenge from the police in Mangistau.
On February 9, 16 police officers arrived at the fish processing plant in several patrol cars. According to Aizhan Nugmanova, on that day they allegedly conducted an operation called "Poacher."
Under this pretext, they seized 400 kilograms of mackerel and 184 kilograms of sturgeon. This occurred despite the fact that the businesswoman presented them with receipts and all necessary documentation. Furthermore, the police initiated a criminal case against Nugmanova for the illegal storage and sale of fish.
"We even asked them, guys, let the fish stay in the solution, seal it, and come back tomorrow to check everything, it's legal, but they didn't listen at all. They stuffed everything into dirty bags and took it away. It was until 4 a.m.," shared entrepreneur Aizhan Nugmanova.
By 5 a.m., the woman was filing a complaint with the regional prosecutor's office. Later, she hired a lawyer and approached the capital's chamber of entrepreneurs, the Anti-Corruption Agency, and the General Prosecutor's Office. Just recently, a response came from the supervisory authority: the criminal case was terminated due to lack of evidence of a crime.
"As a result of studying the materials of the criminal case, your arguments were confirmed. In this regard, on February 20, 2025, the regional prosecutor's office decided to terminate the criminal case based on paragraph 2 of part 1 of article 35 of the Criminal Procedure Code, that is, for lack of evidence of a crime."
"Regarding the allegations of illegal actions by police officers, on February 20, 2025, the regional prosecutor's office registered a material in the information accounting book, which was sent for procedural decision-making to the Department of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Mangistau region," the Mangistau region prosecutor's office responded.
However, Aizhan Nugmanova is not planning to stop here. The entrepreneur wants to hold the police accountable and recover 4.5 million tenge from them. This amount includes the value of the seized fish, lawyer fees, penalties to clients, the flight to Astana, and moral damages, which she assessed at 500,000 tenge.
"I can't accuse everyone, saying, this one said, but the first person who appeared here was the police officer from the village of Bayandy. The first time he came, he met my son and asked what would be here. My son replied: a fish processing plant. The second time he came and started asking for fish from him. My son politely refused. I can't directly blame him for this, but all the local officers were involved. I want them to compensate 4.5 million," Aizhan Nugmanova shared.
The police have not commented on this story yet. However, the Mangistau Chamber of Entrepreneurs agreed to support the woman in this struggle.
"We are aware of this story. The actions of the police officers are illegal. We will not abandon our entrepreneur and will definitely demand compensation and assist in the legal process. The person has lost their goods, which resulted in the business being idle for more than a week," noted Amirghali Zhanaev, the deputy director of the Mangistau region Chamber of Entrepreneurs.
According to Aizhan Nugmanova, due to the actions of the police, she is unable to pay her monthly loan of 700,000 tenge, as well as rent and utility bills for the plant. She took 30 million from "Damu" for business development.
Earlier, it was reported that in Almaty, counterfeit seeds under a well-known brand were seized. Law enforcement agencies discovered nearly 2,000 units of counterfeit products worth over 1.6 million tenge. In 2024, more than 50,000 units of counterfeit goods worth 58.2 million tenge were seized in the southern megacity.
In Astana, the police seized questionable meat that was being distributed nationwide. As reported by the press service of the Astana Department of Internal Affairs, the capital halted meat processing activities that were being conducted without permits and in unsanitary conditions.