SCNS detains fraud suspect

The State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (SCNS) has detained a fraud suspect.

According to the state committee, citizen S.U.E. posed as having close family ties with the President of Kyrgyzstan and the Chairman of the SCNS.

He is reported to have seized a Toyota Tundra ($65,000) and a Mercedes-Benz ($15,000).

The SCNS stated that S.U.E. did not comply with the owner’s demands to return the cars, threatened with physical violence and connections to the country’s leadership, showed family photographs of the head of state and the head of the security services, and claimed he could «resolve various issues.»

A criminal case has been opened under Article 209 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic. The suspect was detained in Cholpon-Ata in Issyk-Kul region and placed in a temporary detention facility of the SCNS pretrial detention center. Investigative and operational measures are ongoing.