The specialised inter-district criminal court of Astana found members of the organised criminal group (OCG) Kospayev guilty and sentenced them to prison terms.
According to Bes.media, the leader of the OCG Yeldos Kospayev was given 15 years' imprisonment in a medium-security colony.
It is noted that he was found guilty of:
- creating and leading an organised group;
- legalising money and property obtained by criminal means;
- embezzling or misappropriating entrusted property;
- causing property damage;
- fraud;
- illegal entrepreneurship;
- extortion and corporate raiding.
Yeldos's brother - Aidos Kospayev, Ruslan Shalin, Yerlan Imashev and Kamardin Alymov were each given 12 years' imprisonment. The fate of the remaining gang members has not been reported.
It will be recalled that Kospayev's OCG was suspected of using violence and threats, raiding the property of entrepreneurs, and illegal business in the territory of Almaty and the Almaty region. Kospayev himself is linked to Bolat Nazarbayev, the brother of the ex-president.
During the investigation, some suspects were arrested, while the rest fled abroad. On 6 September 2023, members of the alleged OCG Yeldos, Aidos and Aybek Kospayev, Oksana Kudryasheva, Alexey Kuznetsov, Ruslan Shalin and Yerlan Imashev were extradited from Northern Cyprus.