An employee of the Ministry of Defence, Yerbol Tazhibayev, who held the position of head of the capital construction department within the Main Directorate of Military Infrastructure (MDMI), has been convicted in a bribery case. Initially, the investigation charged him with attempting to receive 200 million tenge — an amount falling into the category of an especially large scale — but at the trial stage, the case was reclassified, and the defendant ultimately received 4 years' imprisonment instead of a possible 15.
According to Ratel.kz, in 2023 the MDMI entered into contracts with contractor organisations for the supply of modular buildings for the needs of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan worth over 3.5 billion tenge. The contractors, in turn, entered into subcontract agreements with KUN Ground LLP and Modul Trade LLP, where the founder and deputy director is Rustam Umurzakov.
It is reported that without Tazhibayev's report, it was impossible to approve payment for the work under the contract. As Umurzakov stated, Tazhibayev eventually demanded a 'kickback' from him amounting to 10% of the contract sum — around 320 million tenge, later agreeing to 200 million tenge. According to the agreement, the bribe was to be paid in instalments.
On 28 March 2024, Umurzakov contacted the Anti-Corruption Service. The very next day, Tazhibayev demanded 10 million tenge for signing the documents. On 30 March, he received the first part of the alleged bribe via an intermediary — the director of the contractor organisation Urpek Service LLP, Darkhan Rsmanbetov. The handover took place under the supervision of law enforcement, and the money was a dummy.
Initially, Tazhibayev's actions were classified as an attempt to receive a bribe on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan). However, the prosecution submitted the case to court under a less serious article — Part 3 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ('Receiving a bribe on a large scale').
Already during the court proceedings, before the closing arguments, the state prosecutor made another change — reclassifying the case under Part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ('Receiving a bribe on a significant scale').
According to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
- for a bribe on a significant scale – a fine of 50 to 60 times the amount of the bribe or imprisonment for a term of 3 to 7 years;
- for a bribe on a large scale – a fine of 60 to 70 times the amount or 7 to 12 years' imprisonment;
- for a bribe on an especially large scale – a fine of 70 to 80 times the amount or 10 to 15 years' imprisonment.
In the end, Yerbol Tazhibayev was found guilty of receiving a bribe on a significant scale and sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment.