The court convicted 17 members of an organised criminal group (OCG) for the illegal registration of more than 800 vehicles in the Almaty region. Depending on their role and degree of involvement, they were sentenced to between 2 and 11 years' imprisonment.
HOW THE SCHEME WORKED
The Department of the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM) for the Almaty region established during the investigation that the group had, over two years, facilitated the illegal registration of cars in circumvention of established requirements.
In the first stage, participants illegally registered 642 lorries that had been brought into Kazakhstan in breach of technical regulation requirements.
Then, as established during the investigation, the activity continued with regard to passenger cars using the "reviving the twins" scheme. Illegally imported cars were assigned the VIN codes of vehicles that had previously been registered in Kazakhstan and then deregistered. In this way, a further 209 cars were registered.
WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THE ILLEGAL REGISTRATION
According to the AFM, the scheme involved police officers, employees of the Specialised Public Service Centre (SpetsTsON) and private notaries.
They ensured that false information was entered into information systems and that powers of attorney were drawn up in the names of front persons. More detailed information about the distribution of roles among each of the convicted individuals is not specified in the materials provided.
WHAT DAMAGE THE INVESTIGATION ESTABLISHED
The total amount of unpaid registration and recycling fees owed to the state exceeded 6.6 billion tenge.
Of this amount, the unpaid registration fee amounted to 5.4 billion tenge, and the recycling fee to 1.2 billion tenge. During the investigation, vehicle owners voluntarily paid the initial registration fees, as a result of which more than 1 billion tenge was reimbursed to the state.
WHAT DECISIONS THE COURT MADE
Under the court's verdict, five cars that, according to the case materials, the convicted individuals had purchased with criminal proceeds were confiscated to the state.
In addition, four former police officers were stripped of their special ranks. With regard to the notaries involved, the court imposed a ban on carrying out notarial activities.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.
