A court in Aktobe has sentenced the headteacher of Gymnasium No. 55. She was accused of embezzlement and abuse of office.
According to ORDA, the court established that the headteacher had, for 7 years, paid some teachers salaries higher than the amounts they were entitled to. It is reported that the teachers then gave this money back to her. The chief accountant was also involved in the embezzlement scheme.
For her part, the defendant, pleading not guilty, claimed that the accountant had carried out the embezzlement without her knowledge.
When asked about the overpayment of money, the woman explained that it was not for personal gain. She stated that "all the money received was spent on the school's needs and upkeep".
Ultimately, the court found the headteacher guilty under Articles 189 and 361 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and sentenced her to 3 years in prison. She was also banned from holding positions in the civil service for life.
Earlier, the Aktobe City Court had announced a sentence for the school's chief accountant, Bekzat Tazhenov, who lost embezzled state funds totalling more than 413 million tenge on betting.