Criminal cases have been initiated in the Turkestan region regarding embezzlement at the state municipal institution (SMI) «Zhasyl Aimak».
According to the regional prosecutor's office press service, «Zhasyl Aimak» was allocated a land plot of 103 hectares from forest fund lands for the purpose of creating a green belt.
«During an inspection into the legality of spending budget funds, the specialised environmental prosecutor's office uncovered facts of institution heads signing documents confirming the expenditure of budget funds without their actual execution, totalling over 24 million tenge for the planting of 3,000 saxaul seedlings with a survival rate of 56%, whereas only wild trees, including tamarisk, grow in this area», the statement reads.
Furthermore, the department identified inefficient use of 1 billion tenge in the planting of forest stands, use of fertilisers, irrigation, and installation of transformers on land plots unsuitable for sowing.
«Based on these facts, the prosecutor's office has initiated 2 criminal cases under Article 189 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with materials being transferred for pre-trial investigations to the Department of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the Turkestan region», the prosecutor's office stated.
Recall, earlier in the Abai region, the director of the branch of the State Forest Nature Reserve «Semey Ormany» was detained. He is suspected of timber theft. In addition to him, law enforcement officers have taken more than 20 people into custody.