In January 2021, a resident of Pavlodar, Rashid Tulegenov, sold his company Kakadu PV LLP to a resident of Astana, Umsun Bitakova. However, in September of this year, he discovered that he was once again its owner, and the company's tax debt amounted to around 100 million tenge. It is reported that Bitakova was to blame.
"At the time of the sale, the LLP had no debts to the state. However, after purchasing it, Umsun began issuing fictitious invoices to companies that were in the process of bankruptcy," the report states.
According to Ratel.kz, it all began in 2022 when the woman tried to get rid of the LLP in the Specialised Interdistrict Economic Court (SIEC) of the Pavlodar Region by filing a lawsuit to invalidate the sale and purchase agreement and the re-registration of the LLP.
She justified this by claiming that she had supposedly acquired the company for the purpose of conducting entrepreneurial activity, but was unaware that the LLP had debtors and creditors at the time of sale. After examining the documents, the courts of first instance and appeal determined that Bitakova was aware of everything and refused to grant her claim.
It is reported that after this, Bitakova approached the head of the State Revenue Department (SRD) for the Saryarka District of Astana, stating that she had no connection to Kakadu PV LLP.
"Whether it was because he realised he had a problematic taxpayer that was best got rid of by foisting them onto Pavlodar, or because he harboured some other feelings for Umsun, the head of the SRD sent his chief specialist, Birzhikenov, to the legal address at which Kakadu PV LLP was registered after re-registration in Astana, at 8 K. Baisseitova Street, Apt. 325. Grabbing the first passers-by he could find, who are registered on completely different streets, they drew up a report stating that none of them had ever seen any firms in apartment 325," the report states.
At the same time, the SRD for the Saryarka District filed a lawsuit in the Specialised Interdistrict Economic Court of Astana due to the absence of the legal entity at its registered address. In it, the department requested that the state re-registration of Kakadu PV LLP be declared invalid. In addition, the department petitioned to have the sale and purchase agreement for the charter capital between Umsun Bitakova and Rashid Tulegenov declared invalid.
However, instead of Rashid Tulegenov, a resident of Semey, Adilkhan Turypbergen, was named as the defendant in the court proceedings.
"It is to Turypbergen's name that the notice of the court hearing is sent. True, not to Semey, but to Pavlodar. <...> If you look into Turypbergen's background, it also becomes clear that he was unlikely to defend his rights and sue the SRD for the Saryarka District, which had used his IIN - the man regularly comes to police attention, having committed fraud or beaten his wife," the report states.
The court hearing record indicates that Turypbergen, who received the notice of the court proceedings instead of Tulegenov, did indeed participate in them.
As a result, on 22 June 2023, the judge of the Specialised Interdistrict Economic Court of Astana, Asylganym Iskaliyeva, issued a ruling granting the demands of the SRD for the Saryarka District.
"In fact, the legal entity was created illegally, often through document forgery, use of lost documents, misleading the person on whose behalf the registration (re-registration) was carried out, and due to other circumstances confirmed by that person's explanations to the tax authority or the court," the ruling stated.
Tulegenov, however, only found out in September of this year that he had been named as a defendant and had lost the case. Furthermore, he was told that he must now pay the state taxes amounting to 100 million tenge.
"Opening the court office and entering his surname and IIN, he found no decision - as we recall, Turypbergen's details had been entered there instead. Moreover, the website of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan - egov.kz, which Tulegenov accessed to at least find the decision number, was also in a mess - it stated that the re-registration of Kakadu PV LLP was 'cancelled based on decision No. 7119-23-00-2/4770 of 22.06.2023 of the SIEC court for the Pavlodar Region'," the report states.
After going to the Astana court, Tulegenov obtained the case files and filed an application with the local SIEC to restore the missed deadline for appeal. It was the same judge, Iskaliyeva, who considered this request and refused to restore the deadline, arguing that the defendant "had not provided documents confirming valid reasons for missing the deadline".
Later, the judge of the judicial panel for civil cases in Astana, Gulnar Dzhapparova, established that no such documents exist and overturned the SIEC ruling, restoring the deadline for appeal.
It is noted that Tulegenov will have to participate in a new court process. Meanwhile, the name Turypbergen is still listed as the defendant in this case in the court office.