Karachaganak Support Service business manager gets 10 years for $2.2 million embezzlement

A court in Oral has sentenced Barlyk Mendygaziyev, business manager at Karachaganak Support Service (KSS), to 10 years in a penal colony for embezzling $2.2 million under the pretext of purchasing equipment, infohub.kz reports.

According to materials from the West Kazakhstan Regional Court, the convicted man registered the limited liability partnership Karachaganak Support Service in Aksai and initially was its sole founder and head. Later, shares were distributed among employees, but he retained actual control over the company by taking the position of business manager.

The court found that while in the United States, he told the new KSS director that equipment needed to be purchased to extend a contract with the limited liability partnership TenizChevroil. It later emerged that this was a deception.

To circumvent Kazakhstan's currency control requirements, the business manager persuaded the director to structure the transactions as interest-free loans. The company transferred $2.2 million in several payments to the account of KSS Charlotte LLC, which he controlled. In the case materials, this amount is listed as equivalent to 948,337,000 tenge.

For large-scale fraud, the Oral City Court sentenced the man to eight years in prison. Taking into account the punishment under the ruling of Court No. 2 in Atyrau dated July 24, 2025, the final term was 10 years.

"The final sentence is 10 years of imprisonment to be served in a medium-security penal institution," the court's statement said.

The man was also banned from holding managerial positions in commercial enterprises for three years. Property obtained through crime is subject to confiscation.

The court fully granted KSS's civil claim and ordered the convicted man to pay $2.2 million in damages, as well as the state duty. To secure the recovery, the arrest on the man's bank accounts and those of the foreign company he controlled was maintained.

The sentence has not entered into legal force and may be appealed.

In 2020, Kursiv wrote that Mendygaziyev had been placed on the international wanted list. At that time, he was accused of tax evasion and creating an organized criminal group.