An appeal panel of the Almaty criminal court has upheld the verdict in the case of embezzlement of over 1 billion tenge by top managers at FlyArystan, a subsidiary of Air Astana, and the laundering of criminal proceeds, reports infohub.kz.
The main transport prosecutor's office said the appellate instance left the sentence unchanged and dismissed the defense's appeals.
The case involves the embezzlement of funds at FlyArystan. An internal investigation began in early 2024 after ticket fraud was detected. In October of the same year, an independent audit confirmed the findings, and the materials were handed over to law enforcement.
According to the investigation, former top managers Dauren Yerkenuly, Erkin Isanov, and Renat Abulkhanov, who held key positions in sales, revenue accounting, and route network management, orchestrated a scheme involving fraudulent ticket sales, causing the company losses of over 1 billion tenge.
In May 2026, the Almaly District Court of Almaty found all three guilty of large-scale embezzlement and money laundering. Dauren Yerkenuly was sentenced to nine years in prison, while Erkin Isanov and Renat Abulkhanov each received eight years and six months. All three were ordered to forfeit their property and were banned from holding executive positions in commercial organizations for five years. They will serve their sentences in a medium-security prison.