Two martial arts coaches from the School of Higher Sports Excellence (SHSE) No. 3 of the Shymkent Department of Physical Culture and Sports embezzled over 27 million tenge. The budget funds were intended for training camps and athletes' travel to competitions.
According to Ratel.kz, in April 2022, the school director ordered a team of athletes to be sent to a training camp in Taraz. 2.1 million tenge were allocated from the budget for this purpose.
It is reported that the team was led by a 60-year-old coach of wushu-sanda. According to court documents, in April 2022, he obtained documents through deception from the director of IE "Mumin" confirming the provision of accommodation and meals for himself and 19 athletes. The documents were issued to the coach under a fictitious contract with a certificate of completion and fiscal receipts for 2,160,000 tenge. After that, the "sensei" filled out 40 ticket forms, indicating the route Shymkent-Taraz round trip and a cost of 3,000 tenge per ticket.
"The accused, seeing his criminal intent through to completion, without actually travelling with the 19 athletes to Taraz for the training camp between 6 and 25 April 2022, submitted the forged documents he had collected to the SHSE accounting department, attaching them to the travel certificate with an advance report. Thereby, through deception and using his official position, he committed theft of funds amounting to 2,185,000 tenge," the prosecutor stated in the indictment.
Furthermore, it emerged that in August and November of the same year, he similarly "took" another 35 athletes to training camps in Almaty. The damage from his actions amounted to 8,100,000 tenge.
Then, in January 2023, the coach profited by a further 3,150,000 tenge from fictitious camps, after which he came under investigation. In total, he was charged with embezzling 14,635,000 tenge.
His colleague - the senior coach of the martial arts department - also "distinguished himself" in his attraction to budget money. He profited by 12,392,000 tenge from training trips.
In the end, both coaches fully admitted their guilt and compensated for the damage caused at the pre-trial investigation stage. Due to the return of the money, the management of sports school No. 3 had no claims against the defendants. As a result, the court, after examining all the details of the case and considering mitigating circumstances, handed down suspended sentences to both.