Over the past three years, the territorial departments of the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM) have investigated 88 criminal cases related to the illegal registration of over 1,800 vehicles, evading the payment of the initial registration fee totalling 11.8 billion tenge.
According to the agency's press service, 70 people are listed as suspects, including employees of the Administrative Police Department, workers from NJSC 'Government for Citizens', and notaries.
As a result of the measures taken, fees amounting to 900 million tenge have already been reimbursed to the state. Additionally, seizures have been placed on 1,500 vehicles worth 31 billion tenge and on the property of suspects totalling 968 million tenge.
For example, in the Akmola Region, between 2020 and 2022, a group of individuals, including an employee of the Administrative Police Department, illegally processed the initial registration of 55 trucks, causing damage to the state amounting to 401 million tenge.
The court sentenced the defendants to 2.5 years in prison. Property was confiscated to the state: three apartments and a private house with a total value of 125 million tenge, as well as cash in the amount of 21 million tenge.
It is worth recalling that in April last year, the Anti-Corruption Service identified corruption risks in vehicle registration and driver's licence issuance at the country's special service centres (specTsONs). Agency employees entered false data and issued forged documents.
In May, in Astana, workers from a specTsON, police officers, and civilians who had been involved in the illegal registration of vehicles imported from abroad without paying fees and duties were sentenced.
Later, the Almaty Anti-Corruption Service initiated a pre-trial investigation against the deputy head of Specialised Department No.1 for Public Services of the branch of NJSC 'State Corporation 'Government for Citizens'. He is suspected of embezzling 930,000 tenge from an entrepreneur.
In October, in the Karaganda Region, the former head of a specTsON and the deputy head of a TsON were detained. They are suspected of illegally registering heavy goods vehicles. The damage to the state exceeded 315 million tenge.
In December, the AFM concluded a criminal case against the former head of the Ust-Kamenogorsk specTsON. The suspect received bribes for assistance in passing the theory test required to obtain a driver's licence. The criminal income from these actions exceeded 32 million tenge.
In March of this year, in the Zhambyl Region, a group of people who were illegally selling driver's licences at the Taraz specTsON were sentenced.