A court in Kazakhstan's capital has sentenced a man who defrauded citizens of more than 24 million tenge by promising to organize a trip for their children to an international football tournament, infohub.kz reports.
According to the Astana prosecutor's office, parents of young footballers were convinced their children could attend a tournament in Spain on an all-inclusive basis. As a result, Kazakh citizens handed over more than 24 million tenge to the convicted man. A total of nine victims are involved in the case.
"Under various pretexts — payment for participation in the tournament, air tickets, visa services, chaperoning the children and purchasing sports uniforms — he received money from the victims. In reality, he failed to fulfill his obligations and used the money as he saw fit," the supervisory authority said.
The court sentenced the perpetrator to 3 years and 2 months in prison. In addition, the damages were recovered from the convicted man.
The city prosecutor's office warns that when organizing trips abroad for children to sports competitions, it is necessary to verify the organizers' authority, the existence of an official invitation to the tournament, contracts, tickets and booking confirmations. Large sums should not be transferred solely on the basis of verbal promises.