A suspect accused of orchestrating the embezzlement of 2.5 billion tenge during government procurement at the Republican State Enterprise "Center of Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan" has been extradited from Vietnam to Kazakhstan, reports the website infohub.kz.
According to the Financial Monitoring Agency (AFM), under the Comprehensive Plan to Combat Drug Addiction and Drug Trafficking for 2023–2025, over 10 billion tenge was allocated from the national budget for equipping forensic examination bodies. However, the suspect, acting together with the center’s director R.K. Satybaldiev, the head of the Public Procurement Department D.B. Iskenderova, and the heads of LLP "Mark Invest" and LLP "Direct Services" A.A. Shintemirova, orchestrated the theft of budget funds. The group artificially inflated equipment costs threefold and used fictitious commercial offers.
By court verdict, R.K. Satybaldiev, D.B. Iskenderova, and A.A. Shintemirova were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 to 8 years with confiscation of property.
In March 2025, the alleged mastermind was placed on an international wanted list, and a court ordered pre-trial detention in absentia. Early this year, the suspect was detained in Vietnam. Through joint efforts of the Financial Monitoring Agency, the National Central Bureau of Interpol, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the detainee was returned to Kazakhstan.
The criminal case has been sent to court.