In the Petropavlovsk City Court, a verdict was pronounced against a former deputy of the North Kazakhstan Region maslikhat, ex-director of the State Municipal Enterprise "Treatment, Drainage and Culvert Facilities of the Akimat of Petropavlovsk" Pavel Bulayev and his colleagues.
According to Ratel.kz, the group organised a scheme to embezzle budget funds by concluding fictitious contracts with controlled companies. The total damage to the state exceeded 805 million tenge.
As it became known, the investigation began after the detention of Pavel Bulayev by employees of the Anti-Corruption Service in March 2024. By sanction of the investigative court, he was placed in a pre-trial detention centre.
Subsequently, his deputy Denis Marshalov, supply officer Lev Shakshakbayev and lawyer Ruslan Yakovenko came under investigation — all of whom were employees of the aforementioned utility company.
As the court established, from 2020 to 2022, Bulayev and his accomplices entered into fictitious contracts with affiliated enterprises allegedly for the reconstruction of stormwater networks, repair of pumping stations and the rental of special equipment.
"In 2017, he was appointed director of the State Municipal Enterprise 'Treatment, Drainage and Culvert Facilities of the Akimat of Petropavlovsk', and in the same year he created the Limited Liability Partnership 'Tekhno Sila SK', which he registered in his ex-wife's name," the judge explained.
The court established that this was done with the aim of concluding contracts from the State Municipal Enterprise with the Limited Liability Partnership — for those works that the enterprise itself should have been performing.
"Subsequently, Limited Liability Partnerships were created in the name of Marshalov – the deputy director, supply officer Shakshakbayev, and lawyer Yakovenko. They created Limited Liability Partnerships in their own names and signed contracts and acts of completed work, although the work was carried out by employees of the enterprise," the statement reads.
According to the case materials, these firms had no equipment or personnel, and the fictitious acts of completed work were signed with the aim of writing off state funds. Bulayev cashed out the stolen funds and spent them on personal needs — in particular, on the construction of a residential house and the acquisition of property.
In the end, the court found all the defendants guilty and sentenced Pavel Bulayev to 8 years in prison, and the other defendants — Marshalov, Yakovenko and Shakshakbayev — each received 7.5 years in prison. The convicts were also stripped of the right to hold positions in the civil service.
Property acquired through criminal means was confiscated to the state revenue. Material damages totalling 805 million tenge were recovered from the convicts.