Court No. 2 of Taraz found Nursultan Saugabayev guilty of aiding theft after 350 million tenge was withdrawn from a children's hospital account. At the same time, the court separately noted violations in the organisation of access to computers, internet banking and electronic digital signatures (EDS) at the medical institution.
HOW THE MONEY WAS WITHDRAWN FROM THE HOSPITAL ACCOUNT
According to Hronika.kz, on 22 May 2024 persons unidentified by the investigation gained remote access to the accounting computers of the children's hospital and transferred 350 million tenge from the institution's account.
The money was transferred to the account of StroyKomplektTAU LLP, after which it was distributed among several companies. Banks managed to freeze 304,397,910 tenge. According to the verdict, the amount actually cashed out and the size of the damage caused to the hospital amounted to 45,602,090 tenge.
WHAT NURSULTAN SAUGABAYEV WAS CONVICTED OF
In February 2026, Court No. 2 of Taraz found Nursultan Saugabayev guilty under Part 5 of Article 28 — Paragraph 3 of Part 4 of Article 188 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Aiding theft committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, on an especially large scale and with unlawful access to an information system").
According to the prosecution's version, Saugabayev provided the details of companies under his control, organised the further splitting of transfers and the cashing out of funds. He himself denied guilt in aiding the theft, while admitting to the cash-out operations.
The court sentenced him to 6.5 years' imprisonment and ordered the recovery of 45,602,090 tenge. The regional court increased the sentence by a further 2 months.
WHAT VIOLATIONS THE COURT IDENTIFIED AT THE HOSPITAL
Alongside the verdict, the court issued a special ruling addressed to the prosecutor of Zhambyl Region. The court found that the accounting computers used the remote access program AnyDesk.
Connecting required a code and confirmation from the computer being connected to. Furthermore, the login details, passwords and EDS were in fact used by officials other than those to whom they were assigned.
The court also noted inadequate control over computers, access to internet banking and the use of EDS. At the same time, the case file contained no decisions regarding hospital employees whose dishonest or negligent attitude towards their duties may have created the conditions for the theft. The court demanded that the measures taken be reported.
WHY SAUGABAYEV WAS ACQUITTED IN THE SECOND CASE
After the first verdict, Saugabayev was also accused of laundering money obtained by criminal means. According to the prosecution's version, funds were transferred to his account with the bookmaker OLIMPBET, where he placed bets and subsequently withdrew 13,735,142 tenge.
However, on 6 August 2026, the court acquitted Saugabayev. The court noted that 21,723,113 tenge was credited to the gaming account and 13,735,142 tenge was withdrawn, which indicated a loss of part of the funds rather than the receipt of income.
Furthermore, the prosecution did not prove the origin of the money credited to the gaming account and did not establish a direct financial link between the cashed-out hospital funds and specific deposits. The investigation also did not examine transactions on the gaming account prior to 22 May 2024.
WHAT THE LAWYER SAYS
Lawyer Yessen Shalenov believes that the investigation did not identify the individuals who directly gained access to the hospital system and made the transfer of funds. According to him, the employees of the medical institution whose actions or inaction, in the court's view, may have created the conditions for the theft, also did not appear before the court.
