An Almaty court has reconsidered the criminal case of Almaskhan Akhmedzhanov, former head of the city's urban planning and architecture department. The new sentence is nine years in prison, down from the previous 11 years. The earlier court ruling was overturned in February, according to infohub.kz.
Akhmedzhanov was found guilty of aiding and abetting large-scale fraud and abuse of office. He will serve his sentence in a medium-security colony.
Other defendants in the case also received sentences. Former head of Almaty's land relations department Ardak Samambetov was sentenced to five years and six months in prison. Former head of the land management division Yerlan Zharmukhanbetov received 13 years, and former director of an appraisal company Almazkhan Bakirov was given eight years.
Entrepreneurs Mukhanbetaly Shalkarbekov and Berik Uskembayev were each handed five-year suspended sentences. Under an amnesty marking the 30th anniversary of the Constitution, their terms were reduced to four years each.
"The verdict has not entered into legal force and can be appealed within 15 days," the agency notes.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that on February 17, 2025, Akhmedzhanov was sentenced to 11 years in prison and Samambetov to ten. According to the prosecution, Akhmedzhanov helped developers obtain construction permits bypassing the law, with Samambetov assisting him.
In March of that year, the convicted individuals decided to appeal. The case involved the illegal allocation of land and permits for the construction of elite residential complexes and social facilities. During the investigation, 25 episodes were examined and 250 witnesses were questioned.
In February 2026, the Almaty City Court overturned the first verdict. The case was returned to the prosecutor to address procedural violations, and a retrial began in April.