A Kazakh cassation court has amended judicial acts in a fraud case, ordering 27 million tenge received as a bribe to be forfeited to the state and stripping the victims of their status and right to compensation, infohub.kz reports.
According to case materials, while providing legal services, citizen P. received 7 million and 20 million tenge from two individuals purportedly to pass on to officials for favorable decisions on their matters. Without intending to transfer the money, the convicted woman took possession of it through deception and abuse of trust.
The court of first instance convicted P. of large-scale fraud and incitement to bribery, sentencing her to 7 years in prison and ordering compensation for material damage to the two individuals. The appellate instance upheld the verdict.
The cassation court found the lower courts' conclusions on the convicted woman's guilt, the qualification of her actions, and the imposed punishment to be well-founded. However, the judicial acts regarding the disposition of the funds were amended.
As the authority emphasized, the court established that the two individuals voluntarily handed over the money, aware that it was intended for a subsequent bribe. Therefore, the cassation court terminated their participation as victims and civil plaintiffs and canceled the award of material damage in their favor.
Taking into account that the 27 million tenge constituted a bribe, according to paragraph 29 of the Supreme Court's Regulatory Resolution No. 8 of November 27, 2015, if the bribe is not discovered, its value as illegally acquired property is subject to forfeiture to the state, the court explained. Accordingly, the convicted woman was ordered to forfeit the bribe amount of 27 million tenge to the state.