A Lebanese citizen has been sentenced in Almaty for supplying foreign medical devices under the guise of domestic products to participate in state tenders, reports infohub.kz.
According to case files published in the judicial cabinet, the company Pharmactiv was registered in Almaty in 1998 and engaged in pharmaceutical activities. Since 2007, its director was a Lebanese citizen, F.Z., who had a residence permit in Kazakhstan and had lived in Almaty for over 20 years. The sole founder of the LLP was a foreign company.
Since 2019, 99% of the company's shares belonged to a company registered in the UAE, whose founder was the defendant, and 1% was registered to the chief accountant. "In fact, all financial and economic activities of the LLP were under the management and control of F.Z. himself," the case materials state.
In 2015, the company signed a distribution agreement with a South Korean company and became its exclusive distributor in Kazakhstan for products such as blood glucose monitoring systems, test strips, control solutions, skin puncture devices, and lancets. In 2016, the glucose monitoring system was registered in Kazakhstan as a medical device, and in 2017, Pharmactiv participated in a state tender for the supply of test strips and glucose meters with blood sampling devices under the guaranteed volume of free medical care, totaling over 937 million tenge. However, the company's bid was rejected.
In the same year, the defendant, according to the investigation, illegally registered medical devices in Kazakhstan as domestically produced, which allowed him to enjoy benefits when participating in tenders. "In parallel, a system was organized for the contraband import of finished medical devices and components from Korea disguised as raw materials," the case materials say.
The defendant himself did not admit guilt. In court, he stated that he had indeed organized the production of test strips and glucose meters in Kazakhstan. According to his version, raw materials and components were purchased in Korea, and specialists from the South Korean company trained the enterprise's employees in cutting sheets and assembling devices. In 2019, a production workshop was created in Almaty and the necessary equipment was purchased. He also claimed that the localized production allowed the company to obtain a certificate that enabled participation in public procurement and to conclude a long-term contract with SK-Pharmacy. The defendant disagreed with the charges and asked the court to acquit him.
Nevertheless, the court concluded that the defendant's guilt was confirmed by the totality of the evidence examined. Ultimately, the court found him guilty under paragraph 2 of part 4 of Article 190, paragraph 3 of part 2 of Article 323, and paragraphs 1 and 4 of part 2 of Article 234 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and sentenced him to a final term of 6 years and 8 months of imprisonment. The convict must serve the sentence in a medium-security correctional institution.
At the same time, for two other episodes, under part 3 of Article 385 and part 1 of Article 236 of the Criminal Code, the court released him from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In addition, the court satisfied civil claims and ordered the recovery of material damage from the convict in the amount of 571.8 million tenge in favor of the State Revenue Department of Almaty Region, as well as 13.6 million tenge in favor of the Ministry of Health, and another 413.9 million tenge in favor of SK-Pharmacy. The court also ordered the confiscation of the convict's money, movable and immovable property.