A government accountant in the Atyrau region, convicted of embezzling a large sum of budget funds, will not benefit from an amnesty due to unpaid debt to the state. Following a protest by the Prosecutor General's Office, the Court of Cassation reinstated her original sentence of 7 years in prison, reports infohub.kz.
In 2023–2024, the accountant, together with the head of the organization, embezzled over 88.8 million tenge from the state budget. The court of first instance sentenced her to 7 years in prison, but later granted an amnesty, reducing the term to 4 years and 8 months. The appellate court did not correct this error.
The Prosecutor General's Office reviewed the case and secured a retrial. Under Kazakh law, sentence reductions for large-scale embezzlement are prohibited if the damages have not been fully compensated. The former accountant had not repaid 36.8 million tenge to the state. The Court of Cassation upheld the prosecutors' position, annulled the amnesty, and confirmed the final punishment of 7 years in prison. The Prosecutor General's Office emphasized that debts to the state cannot be forgiven without full repayment.