A police chief in Kazakhstan received a prison sentence for protecting gold miners. The former head of the police department of the Markkol district in the eastern region of Kazakhstan, Ruslan Saitkanov, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for accepting bribes and patronizing illegal miners. According to the file, in the spring of 2025 the security officer met a businessman who asked to mine gold without permits. Instead of stopping it, the policeman decided to make money. To this end, the police chief instructed his subordinates to carry out tests, but made sure that they did not lead to liability. This created the appearance of work, and the company quietly mined gold ore from spring to fall 2025 in the mountains illegally using heavy equipment. The head of the OP demanded 1 million tenge as payment for "general patronage". During the transfer of the money he was arrested by the employees of the National Security Committee. During the search, 970 thousand tenge were confiscated from him. The court found the former police officer guilty of accepting a bribe of a significant amount, and sentenced him to 4 years in prison with a lifetime ban on public service positions.

A police chief in Kazakhstan received a prison sentence for protecting gold miners. The former head of the police department of the Markkol district in the eastern region of Kazakhstan, Ruslan Saitkanov, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for accepting bribes and patronizing illegal miners. According to the file, in the spring of 2025 the security officer met a businessman who asked to mine gold without permits. Instead of stopping it, the policeman decided to make money. To this end, the police chief instructed his subordinates to carry out tests, but made sure that they did not lead to liability. This created the appearance of work, and the company quietly mined gold ore from spring to fall 2025 in the mountains illegally using heavy equipment. The head of the OP demanded 1 million tenge as payment for "general patronage". During the transfer of the money he was arrested by the employees of the National Security Committee. During the search, 970 thousand tenge were confiscated from him. The court found the former police officer guilty of accepting a bribe of a significant amount, and sentenced him to 4 years in prison with a lifetime ban on public service positions.