In the Terektinsky district of the West Kazakhstan region, two employees of the state institution "Centralised Library System" were found guilty of embezzling approximately 46 million tenge intended for staff salaries.
According to the Telegram channel "Uralsk Week", between 2023 and 2025 the chief accountant and a payroll accountant transferred surplus budget funds to their personal accounts.
It is reported that the director's electronic signature was used to process the transfers, allowing them to bypass internal controls.
The defendants admitted guilt, returned the full amount, and expressed remorse. The court considered these circumstances as mitigating factors. Furthermore, each of the women was in a difficult personal situation: one was undergoing treatment for cancer and supporting a son studying abroad, while the other also faced serious medical and financial difficulties.
In the end, the court sentenced both to seven years' imprisonment suspended with probation supervision and banned them from holding positions involving financial responsibility and accounting for eight years.
Incidentally, it was previously reported that the Centralised Library System of the Terektinsky district includes 34 libraries. The average salary of a librarian there is around 164,000 tenge.