In the Mangystau region, a border service lieutenant colonel has been sentenced for entering into a fictitious marriage with a mother of four to obtain housing benefits totaling 50 million tenge, reports the website infohub.kz.
The 45-year-old A.K., a senior operational officer for special cases in the counterintelligence and intelligence department of the Border Service Directorate for the Mangystau region, was found guilty of fraud. The investigation established that he proposed to his brother's wife that she divorce and marry him, promising 3 million tenge in return. The woman, a mother of four, agreed. After the marriage was registered, the serviceman notarized the birth certificates of his new wife's children and submitted documents to the housing commission of the border service to receive payments based on family composition. As a result, 50 million tenge were transferred to his account.
The funds were used to purchase an apartment from his ex-wife's brother, then cashed out and transferred to the serviceman's account in another bank. From this amount, he gave the woman the promised 3 million tenge, after which the marriage was dissolved.
In court, the defendant pleaded not guilty, claiming that the marriage was genuine and that cohabitation was postponed until the children finished school. He also stated that he received the payments legally and that the divorce occurred due to his previous wife's pregnancy. However, the woman confirmed that the marriage was fictitious, that there was no close relationship, and that she only learned about the 50 million tenge during the investigation, after which she filed a complaint.
The military court ruled the marriage fictitious and classified the actions as fraud. A.K. was sentenced to 6 years in prison, ordered to compensate the state for damages, and stripped of his lieutenant colonel rank. The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.