The Anti-Corruption Service for the West Kazakhstan Region is investigating a criminal case against the general director of the RGU "Bokeyorda State Nature Reserve" of the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.
According to the press service of the Anti-Corruption Agency, he is suspected of embezzling budget funds on a large scale by paying a salary to a person who did not actually work at the reserve. The amount of the embezzlement has not been specified.
By court order, the suspect has been taken into custody. Law enforcement officers are checking his involvement in other crimes.
Recall that in November last year, for the fire in "Semey Ormany", which resulted in the deaths of 14 employees of the forest reserve, the acting general director of "Kazavialesookhrana", Talgar Aliyev, was convicted. The court ordered him to pay the Ministry of Ecology the amount of damage from the fire in the sum of 161.5 billion tenge. He also must pay a state duty of 4.8 billion tenge.
At the same time, in Kostanay, the court ordered the former head of the Basamansky forestry institution, Asgat Zhakashev, to pay 21.4 billion tenge to state revenue. The investigation established that his actions led to a large-scale fire, which damaged flora and fauna, and destroyed more than 32 thousand hectares of forest.
In December, in the Zhetysu region, the director of the Alakol State Nature Reserve, Kanatbek Abylkasimov, his deputy Nurlan Beisenov, and the head of the department Rustem Shalapanov were convicted. They were found guilty of receiving bribes from residents of the Alakol district. The villagers offered the bribes to avoid being held administratively liable for illegal haymaking.
In April of this year, in the Pavlodar region, a sentence was handed down to the former head of the Ertis Ormany nature reserve. He was found guilty of receiving bribes, embezzlement, abuse of official power, and leading an organised criminal group.