In Shymkent, a high-profile court case against the former deputy head of the city's construction department, Serik Kusherbekov, has concluded.
According to Ratel.kz, he was found guilty of a number of serious economic crimes, including embezzlement of budget funds, abuse of official position, and legalisation of illegally obtained income. Two accomplices were convicted alongside him — the director of a construction company and a former civil servant.
According to the investigation, in 2023–2024, Kusherbekov, while serving as director of Turgyn uy Shymkent LLP, was involved in implementing a state programme for the major repair of common property in apartment buildings, worth 83.4 million tenge. During the fund distribution stage, he illegally conspired with the director of Shanyrak Stroy Invest LLP, Baglan Pernebekov. Instead of the originally selected contractor, PMK-7 LTD, a new contract was signed with Shanyrak Stroy Invest LLP, with the scope of work increasing significantly — from 39 to 78 buildings, and the contract amount totalling over 172 million tenge.
According to case materials, most of the work had already been completed by the previous contractor, but the new one received the entire allocated budget. Meanwhile, the actual costs, according to the investigation, amounted to only a third of the transferred sum. A scheme involving subcontractors was used to cover up the embezzlement.
Similar actions were repeated during the organisation of technical inspections and energy audits of 43 multi-storey buildings. Payment for the same work was made twice: first, 6.4 million tenge to an official expert organisation, and then again to Shanyrak Stroy Invest LLP without a contract, but for a significantly larger amount — over 88 million tenge.
The same scheme was used to finance author supervision services, even though contracts for this had been signed with other contractors.
The investigation also established the fact of money laundering: in January 2024, Kusherbekov and Pernebekov purchased a ZEEKR 001 electric car in China, worth over 21 million tenge. The car was initially registered to Pernebekov, and later registered in the name of the official's wife in Shymkent.
In April 2024, Kusherbekov was appointed deputy head of the city's construction department, but in December he was detained. His two accomplices were arrested shortly after. None of the defendants pleaded guilty, shifting the blame onto a supposedly dishonest contractor.
The Inter-District Criminal Court of Shymkent found all three guilty. Serik Kusherbekov was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, and his accomplices, Baglan Pernebekov and Ablaikhan Duisenbaev, were each sentenced to 7 years in prison. Additionally, the convicted individuals were banned from holding positions in the civil service and commercial organisations.
The court also ordered the recovery of damages amounting to approximately 89 million tenge. Vehicles purchased with illegal income, including the Chinese electric car and cars of the brands Lada and Mercedes-Benz, were confiscated. The convicted individuals retain the right to appeal the verdict.
For context, in May, the head of the Department of State Property and Privatisation for the Karaganda region, Dastan Khamzin, was found guilty of receiving a bribe of 1 million tenge for signing an act of completed work for building repairs at the treasury department.