Officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained the organizers and ultimate beneficiaries of the server infrastructure of the Kyzdar.net website, the ministry reported. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the ministry, the site was used for advertising and promoting pimping via the internet, as well as for involving citizens in illegal activities.
The MIA reported that about 9,000 profiles for providing intimate services were posted on the platform. Over 500 of them, according to the ministry, were profiles of persons of non-traditional sexual orientation and transvestites. The ministry also noted that such services are one of the risk factors for the spread of infectious diseases.
During the investigation, it was established that the suspects are founders of one of the IT companies. According to the MIA, the Kyzdar.net website they developed was one of the key projects and was used as a technological platform for developing and testing software solutions. Subsequently, these solutions were implemented in the creation of other legal IT products in the service sector.
The ministry stated that the company's development was carried out at the expense of financial flows from the illegal activities of the Kyzdar.net website. According to preliminary estimates, their volume amounted to more than 500 million tenge per month.
A significant portion of financial transactions, according to the MIA, was conducted using cryptocurrency instruments to complicate control over the movement of money.
As a result of investigative measures, 144 million tenge in cash, more than $1.3 million, including over $300,000 in cryptocurrency, were seized. Also seized were weapons with ammunition, about 150 units of computer and other equipment, vehicles, documents, and other evidence in the criminal case.
The pre-trial investigation continues. Further investigative and operational measures are being carried out to establish all circumstances of the illegal activity, possible accomplices, and schemes for legalizing illegally obtained income.
The MIA noted that other information is not disclosed in the interests of the investigation.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that the Prosecutor General's Office announced the suppression of the activities of the organizers of the large internet resource Kizdar.net. According to investigators from Almaty, the criminal group used the platform for 15 years to organize illegal business in the field of paid intimate services.
The Prosecutor General's Office reported that the preliminary established amount of illegal income received by the platform's creators during its existence exceeds 2 billion tenge. The site was completely blocked.
The actions of the detainees were qualified under Part 2 of Article 309 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan — "Organization or maintenance of dens for prostitution and pimping, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy." By court order, the suspects were taken into custody for the period of investigative measures.