The Department of the Financial Monitoring Agency in the East Kazakhstan Region has completed its investigation and sent a criminal case to court against officials of the JSC «Regional Centre for Public-Private Partnership of the East Kazakhstan Region».
The centre's management is accused of embezzling 2.5 billion tenge of budget funds during the implementation of a street lighting modernisation project in Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semey, abusing their official powers, illegal participation in entrepreneurial activities, and legalising criminal proceeds.
The project «Modernisation of street lighting systems in Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semey» was launched in 2019. It involved replacing outdated lighting fixtures with energy-efficient LED lamps to save electricity and improve the quality of street lighting in the cities.
According to the investigation materials, the officials responsible for implementing the project signed fictitious certificates of completed work, significantly overstating the cost of equipment and installation services. Furthermore, they accepted lighting fixtures that did not meet the technical specifications outlined in the project documentation. The total amount of damage amounted to 2.5 billion tenge.
During the investigation, it was established that to legalise the stolen funds, the head of JSC «Regional Centre for Public-Private Partnership of the East Kazakhstan Region» organised the registration of an LLP in a nominee's name. This organisation acted as a subcontractor and was used to cash out money through fictitious contracts.
With the criminally obtained funds, the defendants acquired luxury movable and immovable property with a total value of 265 million tenge. To avoid possible confiscation, all purchases were registered in the names of nominees.
By court order, the identified property has been seized with a view to subsequent confiscation if a guilty verdict is returned. A pre-trial restraint measure of detention has been imposed on the suspects.
It will be recalled that last June, Majilis deputy Abzal Kuspan reported that he was receiving complaints about the former akim of the East Kazakhstan Region, Danial Akhmetov, regarding the street lighting modernisation project in Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk.
According to the appeals, the project, costing 4.8 billion tenge (3.6 billion as a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and 1.2 billion from budget funds) was implemented with violations and did not solve the cities' lighting problems. It was reported that Akhmetov personally lobbied for the project, conducting negotiations with the EBRD.
It was noted that despite the project's implementation deadline having expired back in 2023, both cities continue to suffer from a lack of street lighting, with thousands of lamps not working. Meanwhile, the region now carries a multi-billion tenge debt to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The appeal to the deputy indicated that the nature of the violations suggests either inefficient use of the allocated funds or the existence of schemes to siphon off money.