The Aktobe criminal court has begun hearing the case of developers who left 480 residents without housing. It is reported that some shareholders died without ever receiving the apartments they had fully paid for.
According to Ratel.kz, the defendants in the dock are Bauyrzhan Karimov and Abat Zharaskhanov. They are charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan: "Fraud" and "Violation of rules or requirements in the field of construction activities."
As stated in the indictment, Karimov, as chairman and founder of the housing cooperative (HC) "Safina kz", had been buying and selling multi-apartment and residential buildings since 2016. He also owned the housing construction cooperative (HCC) "StroyServiceRegion".
According to the investigation, he took advantage of the moratorium on business inspections introduced by Presidential Decree on 26 December 2019. The order prohibited central state and local executive bodies from inspecting and visiting micro and small business entities from 1 January 2020 to 1 January 2023. Taking advantage of this, the defendant, on behalf of the cooperative "Safina kz", rented an office in Aktobe at 101st Rifle Brigade Street, building No. 9.
Then, as stated in the case materials, "<...> with the aim of committing fraud, i.e., stealing another's property or acquiring the right to another's property through deception and abuse of trust, on an especially large scale, committed against two or more persons, he began to recruit staff in order to create a false image of a successful enterprise engaged in the construction of apartment buildings in the city of Aktobe, where the ultimate goal was illegal material enrichment".
It is reported that in early 2020, Karimov began attracting shareholders to sell apartments in 4 multi-apartment residential buildings in the Batys-2 microdistrict. The contracts were drawn up on behalf of Karimov's HC "Safina kz" and HCC "StroyService-Region".
According to the state prosecution, Karimov lowered apartment prices to attract buyers, making them significantly below market value. He also announced various promotions and offered discounts for full payment.
At the same time, he showed buyers the future buildings, presenting mock-ups of the properties, catalogues, and brochures. Thereby, "he created a false impression of the construction and installation work being carried out on this residential complex, and to lend credibility, he decided to partially carry out construction and installation work on the apartment building".
The indictment states that in August 2022, Karimov, realising he would not complete construction by December, decided to collude with the director of LLP "AktobeKazakhFinance", Zharaskhanov. Meanwhile, the shareholders, not having received their apartments, began demanding that local authorities intervene in the situation with Karimov.
"The director of LLP 'AktobeKazakhFinance', Zharaskhanov, being, as the prosecutor now insists, a good acquaintance of Karimov, and knowing that Karimov was engaged in illegal construction of residential buildings, entered into a preliminary conspiracy with him. After that, contracts with shareholders for the purchase of apartments in the buildings under construction also began to be concluded with LLP 'AktobeKazakhFinance'," the report states.
As stated in the case materials, Zharaskhanov, knowing that HC "Safina kz" did not have design and estimate documentation for the construction of the buildings, helped Karimov raise money from shareholders. At the same time, he promised them that he would help Karimov complete the buildings of HC "Safina kz" and HCC "StroyService-Region".
Moreover, Zharaskhanov's LLP "AktobeKazakhFinance" did not have the necessary state license for category 2 construction and installation work, nor the mandatory work experience of at least 5 years.
It is reported that Zharaskhanov then convinced the shareholders that he and Karimov needed additional money to complete the construction. To this end, from December 2022 to June 2023, Zharaskhanov and Karimov "in execution of their conceived criminal intent, concluded tripartite agreements, devised by Zharaskhanov and not conforming to the standard form, between HC 'Safina kz', HCC 'StroyServiceRegion', LLP 'AktobeKazakhFinance', and the shareholders".
Karimov and Zharaskhanov are also accused of building houses without the necessary permits. It is reported that they did not have permission from the authorised bodies or the organisational and technological documentation: a construction organisation plan and a work execution plan. Furthermore, the workers they hired lacked the necessary qualifications and training.
"Realising that these types of work require a set of safety measures, and motivated by the desire to obtain personal profit through illegal savings on construction and installation work costs, Karimov and Zharaskhanov blatantly ignored the required regulatory standards", the report states.
It has become known that the buildings were ultimately never completed. According to journalists, many shareholders got into debt, sold their apartments to buy other housing, and are now living in rented apartments or dachas. Some, according to their relatives, unable to bear the stress, died. For their part, the defendants deny their guilt.