An investigator from the Akmola Region, Zarina Akhilgova, has stated that her name and a forged summons in her name were used to intimidate a citizen and demand money from him, and believes that law enforcement officers are behind this.
The regional prosecutor's office found no grounds to launch a pre-trial investigation, but a court twice ruled the supervisory authority's position unlawful. The investigator herself speaks of pressure and a cover-up, while the prosecutor's office insists that there is no corpus delicti.
WHAT THE INVESTIGATOR SAID
Zarina Akhilgova, who serves in the investigative directorate of the police department (PD) of the Akmola Region, approached the FBPC newsroom. In 2024, the publication Qazaqstan Media wrote about her as one of the region's most effective investigators. A native of Shchuchinsk, she joined the internal affairs bodies in 2017.
According to Akhilgova, as part of an interdepartmental group with prosecutors, she investigated a major criminal case. At that time, unauthorised persons drew up a summons in her name in order to obtain a bribe of 4 million tenge from a citizen. To do this, according to the investigator, materials from the case were used, access to which only members of the group had.
Akhilgova believes that law enforcement officers are involved. One of them, she says, was dismissed at his own request, while other participants were not identified. The prosecutor's office, she claims, refused five times to register a criminal case.
HOW THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE RESPONDED TO COMPLAINTS
Akhilgova published her story on Instagram along with the documents. On 27 July 2026, the first deputy regional prosecutor replied to her that the arguments concerning the forgery of the summons and signature, the use of electronic criminal case data and the concealment from registration had already been checked. There are no grounds for a different assessment, he said.
WHAT THE COURT DECIDED
Akhilgova appealed against the refusal. On 17 August, the Specialised Investigative Court of Kokshetau upheld her complaint. The court ruled unlawful the decision of the senior investigator for particularly important cases of the internal security directorate, who left her application unconsidered and attached it to an official inspection. The court also ruled unlawful the reply of the first deputy regional prosecutor, and imposed on the regional prosecutor the duty to remedy the violations.
WHY THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE DISAGREED WITH THE COURT
The prosecutor's office attempted to overturn this decision. In its motion, it itself described what had happened. According to the inspection, one of the officers (whose name is concealed in the document), together with unauthorised persons, acted in others' interests and unlawfully pressured the citizen. A summons was drawn up in Akhilgova's name, the person was called, people introduced themselves as members of the interdepartmental group and summoned him in a case to which he had no connection.
The prosecutor's office, however, saw no corpus delicti. Its argument: Akhilgova herself suffered no significant harm. The harm to the citizen who was summoned by the forged summons is not assessed in this part of the motion.
On 24 August, a judge of the criminal cases panel of the Akmola Regional Court upheld the investigative court's decision. However, on 1 September, the prosecutor's office again wrote to Akhilgova that its position on the absence of grounds for a pre-trial investigation "remains unchanged".
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE CASE NOW
According to Akhilgova, following her application a "new fact" was ultimately registered, rather than the previous one. After her complaints about the regional prosecutor's office, the materials, she claims, were transferred by order of the Prosecutor General's Office to the National Security Committee (NSC).
The investigator also speaks of pressure on her and insults after the court's decision. She is preparing a defamation claim and promises to provide details after it is heard.
In her post she writes that she chooses to "take off her epaulettes" because defending the law has become more dangerous than breaking it. According to her, a badge, uniform and powers should not serve personal interests, but not everyone in the system thinks so.
FBPC sent requests to the prosecutor's office of the Akmola Region, the Prosecutor General's Office, the NSC and the PD of the Akmola Region to find out whether the court's decision has been executed, at what stage the case is and whether the officers involved have been held accountable.
