The Deputy Chairman of the National Bank, Aliya Moldabekova, has been found guilty of an administrative offence for failing to comply with an order from the Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC). A court in Astana fined her 64,875 tenge.
WHAT WAS THE BASIS FOR THE FINE
According to BES.media, the SAC issued the order to the National Bank based on an audit of the regulator's financial and economic activities. During the inspection, auditors concluded that some bank employees had been paid rewards which, in the SAC's view, should have been returned to the budget.
According to case materials, the National Bank is obliged to comply with SAC orders, and the supervising official bears administrative responsibility for non-compliance within the set timeframe. In this case, that official was Aliya Moldabekova.
WHY THE DISPUTE AROSE
Aliya Moldabekova disagreed with the administrative offence report. In court, she stated that complying with the SAC order within the set timeframe was impossible under legislative requirements.
In her words, the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan provides protection for bona fide employees: if bonuses were paid based on internal regulations of the National Bank, such funds are considered means of subsistence and are not subject to return.
Furthermore, as Moldabekova indicated, the Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan does not allow an employer to withhold such payments without employee consent or a relevant court decision. She also explained that the National Bank is taking measures to comply with the order, but court procedures take time, and for some payments there is a risk of refusal due to the expiry of the statute of limitations.
WHAT DECISION THE COURT MADE
The Specialised Inter-District Court for Administrative Offences of Astana found Aliya Moldabekova guilty under Part 3 of Article 462 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Failure to comply with an order from a state control body").
The court imposed an administrative fine of 64,875 tenge, which must be paid voluntarily within 30 days.
