The Ministry of Internal Affairs has put two suspects on the wanted list in connection with major thefts at JSC «Qarmet».
The editorial team of FBRK decided to find out more about the identities of those wanted.
According to polisia.kz, Miras Akhmetzhanov and Andrey Chizhevsky are under investigation as part of a criminal case concerning fraud committed by a criminal group.
Details are not being disclosed.
However, it recently became known that the police department of Akmola Region detained a criminal group that had long been involved in the theft of fuels and lubricants at JSC «Qarmet».
During a search, approximately 5.5 tonnes of diesel fuel were seized from those detained.
As reported by the company, the damage to the enterprise amounted to over 50 million tenge.
Employees of the plant, including the security service, came under suspicion of committing the crime. A pre-trial investigation is underway.
At the same time, no connection is reported between those wanted and those detained.
Our editorial team has found out what business activities Miras Akhmetzhanov and Andrey Chizhevsky, who have been placed on the wanted list, are engaged in.
Miras Akhmetzhanov has an individual enterprise which, among other things, deals with the technical inspection of freight vehicles. In addition, until April 2024, Mr Akhmetzhanov owned the Temirtau-based LLP «Ramazan KZ», which is engaged in construction and installation work.
According to Kompa.kz, the current owner of the company is Azret Ibraev. In 2024, «Ramazan KZ» has already paid over 34 million tenge in taxes. In comparison, in 2023 the total amount paid to the budget was only 251 thousand tenge.
In 2022, Miras Akhmetzhanov appeared in a court case together with the director of LLP «NORTH-2050», Alexander Krivorotov.
The story went that in 2021, while Mr Akhmetzhanov was at the «Shygys» market in Karaganda, a young man unexpectedly approached him, claiming to have information about criminal activities of Mr Akhmetzhanov, and that the latter was supposedly on an operational register.
The young man provided Mr Akhmetzhanov with some documents and stated that he could «sort out the issue» of having him removed from the register, and then simply disappeared.
From the documents, Mr Akhmetzhanov learned that he was indeed on the operational register as the leader of the OCG «Zavodskiye», and Mr Krivorotov as a member of the group.
In January 2022, Mr Akhmetzhanov received a call from a little-known police officer, who informed him that the Karaganda Region Police Department had conducted an internal investigation regarding the head of the Central Police Department, D.A. Karipbayev.
The reason for the investigation and the subsequent severe reprimand was the posting online of a photograph showing Mr Karipbayev with Mr Akhmetzhanov, identified as a participant and leader of an OCG.
This whole confusing story made it impossible to live in peace, so Miras Akhmetzhanov and Alexander Krivorotov decided to go to court in order to finally have the information about their criminal activity declared invalid and to seek moral compensation.
The court, however, did not find the plaintiffs' arguments convincing, as the source of the information remained unknown.
The police department could also neither refute nor confirm the fact of the investigation regarding Mr Karipbayev, as the materials were classified.
As a result, the court left the claim, as well as the subsequent appeal, unsatisfied.
It is worth noting that cases against Mr Akhmetzhanov have been repeatedly opened and then closed – «due to lack of evidence».
The other wanted individual, Andrey Chizhevsky, has owned the Temirtau-based company LLP «ITS GMBH» since November 2022, which specialises in the repair and maintenance of machinery and special equipment.
LLP «ITS GMBH» has a medium risk level for tax obligations. In 2024, the company paid 38 million tenge in taxes. For comparison, in 2023 the total amount paid to the budget was 130.3 million tenge.
At present, the amount of tax arrears stands at more than 28.9 million tenge.
Andrey Chizhevsky is also a founder of the Temirtau-based trading company LLP «Saryarka-Kazgroup». The company has a medium risk level for tax obligations. The last tax payments were made in 2021, amounting to 3.5 million tenge.
Until June 2023, Mr Chizhevsky was among the founders of LLP «Kazprostal», which specialises in the wholesale trade of scrap and waste ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
In 2024, Mr Chizhevsky was involved in a case concerning the recovery of a debt amounting to 4 million tenge. In May of this year, the court granted an application to secure payment by imposing a lien on the property of Mr Chizhevsky.
And yet, despite the aforementioned court proceedings, the last thing one would expect from such conscientious entrepreneurs is to end up in a criminal report. On the other hand, the launched investigation only shows how structured and extensive an OCG could have been operating around Qarmet.
It is quite possible that we have yet to learn about many other criminal schemes that operated within the sphere of interest of the legendary metallurgical plant.