The former owner of the bankrupt Delta Bank, Nurlan Tleubayev, has received another sentence. He was previously convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to 10 years. Now Tleubayev has been given 6 years and 8 months' imprisonment, but the overall sentence remains unchanged.
According to Kursiv.media, the Astana Criminal Court stated that Tleubayev stole more than 4 billion tenge from a certain joint-stock company, funds allocated under the "Agribusiness-2020" programme.
Journalists, in turn, suggest that the joint-stock company is the national management holding company "KazAgro".
It emerged that Tleubayev transferred the stolen money under the guise of a loan, using fictitious grain purchase and sale contracts, to the accounts of the controlled holding company "Alibi", in which he held a 87% stake.
"The collateral consisted of fictitious grain receipts for 76,000 tonnes, future funds due to the LLP amounting to 4.8 billion tenge, as well as agricultural land plots belonging to the LLP totalling 16,541 hectares, of which 14,767 hectares were pledged without the knowledge or consent of the land users (shareholders) of the LLP, i.e., residents of the North Kazakhstan Region. In 2016, loan payments ceased, and all rights (claims) to the land plots were fully transferred to JSC 'N'", the court explained.
As a result, Nurlan Tleubayev was found guilty and sentenced to 6 years and 8 months' imprisonment, with a ban on holding senior positions in commercial and financial organisations for 10 years. Additionally, he was prohibited from being a major shareholder in any financial organisations.
"Based on Article 56, Part 6 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Imposition of punishment for an incomplete crime - editor's note), under the totality of criminal offences, by absorbing the less severe punishment imposed by this verdict with the more severe punishment imposed by the Almaly District Court of Almaty on 26.06.2023, the defendant was ultimately sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. The verdict has not yet entered into legal force", the court concluded.
Recall that Tleubayev was previously sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for embezzlement from Delta Bank. As part of the investigation, law enforcement agencies seized the property of the former bank owner and his relatives, including an elite restaurant, a four-room flat, 100% stakes in three companies in Prague, Czech Republic, as well as a villa on Palm Jumeirah island in the UAE, valued at approximately $5 million.
Furthermore, through an international letter of request in cooperation with the Republic of Latvia, a 100% stake in the "Ventspils Grain Terminal" in Latvia was also seized. Additionally, 5 sugar factories and a further 58 property assets were transferred to the Problem Loan Fund.