The former head of the Housing and Utilities Department of the city administration, an employee of technical supervision from M-Stroy Project LLP, as well as the owner of the contracting company PavlodarEnergoMontazh LLP, have been detained in Kokshetau.
According to the press service of the Akmola Region Prosecutor's Office, they are suspected of embezzling over 170 million tenge allocated for the construction of the embankment from the old airport to the Blood Centre.
The suspects' actions have been classified under Article 189, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Misappropriation of property on an especially large scale"). The sanction of this article provides for a penalty of up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. All suspects have been taken into custody with court approval.
During the investigation, police discovered criminally acquired property – commercial real estate in Astana with an estimated value of 95 million tenge.
Prosecutors also established that, in order to conceal the embezzlement, part of the work on the 'Embankment' project was carried out using funds stolen from another construction site in Atbasar.
In this regard, the actions of one of the individuals involved were additionally classified under Article 218, Part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Legalisation (laundering) of money and other property obtained by criminal means"). This carries a penalty of up to 10 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Recall that earlier, residents of Kostanay complained about the condition of the embankment worth 2.13 billion tenge. It was noted that the improvement project is planned over several years, but while one part is being completed, another has already begun to deteriorate.