The Inter-district Criminal Court of Shymkent has heard a case concerning embezzlement and misappropriation at the city's General Secondary School No. 44. In the dock were the head of the educational institution, Aydarbek Shokibasov, his deputy Aygul Kaldarbekova, and the chief accountant Maria Makhambetzhanova.
According to Ratel.kz, they were charged under Article 189, Part 4, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (misappropriation or embezzlement of entrusted another's property using an official position).
As it became known, by inflating salaries and maintaining 'dead souls' on the school's payroll, the accused caused the state damage amounting to 16,599,434 tenge over the course of a year.
During the investigation, the chief accountant stated that all the inflations in the staffing schedules and payroll sheets were organised by the deputy director for economics.
The accountant reported that the deputy director consulted no one and shared the proceeds with no one. At the same time, she claims that the scheme for overpaying salaries and using 'dead souls' was organised under the previous director.
The head of the educational institution also stated that he had no connection to the embezzlement and signed the payroll sheets for fictitious workers solely due to excessive trust in his subordinates.
'Aydarbek Shokibasov reported that he has only been the school director since 2023. He completely trusted his accountant and deputy for economics. And he did not always check the sheets they brought him for signature. He admitted that, through oversight, he signed salaries for "dead souls"', the report states.
The deputy director for economics also admitted guilt only partially, claiming that the employees filled in the time sheets. Also, according to her, all the money went towards repairs and school needs. It is reported that the accused compensated the specified damage to the state during the investigation stage.
Ultimately, the court, having studied all the circumstances, imposed a fine of 6.9 million tenge on the school director. Shokibasov was given two months to pay it.
However, the former deputy director and chief accountant were sentenced to actual prison terms – 8 and 7 years of imprisonment respectively.
All were permanently deprived of the right to engage in state affairs. It is noted that the verdict has not yet entered into legal force.