A court in Atyrau has sentenced five individuals for large-scale fraud committed during the reconstruction of the Astrakhan–Mangyshlak main water pipeline. All five were found guilty, according to infohub.kz.
Court No. 2 in Atyrau established that the scheme involved the former head of the subsidiary "Magistralny Vodovod" of KazTransOil, his deputy, representatives of a construction contractor, and the founder of a design firm.
It was revealed that one of the defendants, abusing his official position and effectively controlling the contractor, illegally adjusted the pipeline reconstruction project, including changing the type of pipes. The cost of materials in the project documentation was inflated, while the actual pipes were purchased at significantly lower prices. As a result, funds allocated for the infrastructure project were illegally siphoned off.
The defendants pleaded not guilty and asked the court to acquit them. However, the court found their guilt proven by witness testimony, materials from covert investigative actions, correspondence, and expert conclusions.
The court sentenced: S. under Article 28 Part 3, Article 190 Part 4 Item 2 of the Criminal Code to 6 years and 8 months in prison; K. under Article 190 Part 4 Item 2 to 6 years; M. and I. under Article 190 Part 4 Item 2 to 6 years each; A. under Article 28 Part 5, Article 190 Part 4 Item 2 to 5 years. They were also banned from holding leadership positions and working in public service for various terms. The verdict has not yet entered into force.
Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office reported that the total cost of the pipeline reconstruction exceeded 17 billion tenge. During the investigation, the defendants' property was checked: assets worth about 1.1 billion tenge were found, part of which was confiscated by the court to the state. The court satisfied the claim for compensation of damage to the state in the amount of 6.4 billion tenge. An additional claim for 12 million tenge was dismissed as the damage in that part was not proven.