Details have emerged of the criminal case against the former head of the investigative department of the Karaganda region police department, Rustam Kulkeev, who is suspected of stealing a piece of physical evidence - mining equipment.
According to the Telegram channel "Patriot", instead of officially confiscating the evidence, the suspect allegedly organised the substitution of the equipment for old monitors and system units. After this, Kulkeev is said to have kept the devices for himself and sold them for $50,000 to a local resident, Alisher Akataev.
It has emerged that, in addition to Kulkeev and Akataev, the defendants in the case include a regional akimat employee, Nikolai Kim, and a police department investigator, Aidyn Kanatov. According to the investigation, each of them took part in the crime.
Journalists report that currently, no investigative actions are being carried out with Rustam Kulkeev.
"It is unclear why prosecutors and the police are not rushing to combine the two cases into a single proceeding. Although it is obvious that these criminal cases against the head of the investigative department and against the investigator who is now in the dock should be merged. Since both cases involve the same witnesses, the same experts, and the same evidence", the statement said.
In turn, the lawyer for the defendant, Zhan Omarov, is also asking the judge and prosecutor to combine the cases and consider the theft of the mining equipment in a single proceeding.
"There is a need to combine this case with the criminal case against Rustam Kulkeev. I believe that all of their actions, which the prosecutor's office is charging them with, are closely related. As it stands, we are simply engaging in idle chatter. We are interrogating a large number of witnesses. So much time has been wasted – your time, our time, the prosecutor's time. Therefore, I once again petition for the combination of this case with Kulkeev's case", the lawyer stated.
The court will return to discuss the lawyer's petition on 24 January.
For context, it was reported in November 2023 that Kulkeev and investigator Kanatov were suspected of stealing confiscated mining equipment. A month later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan placed Kulkeev on the wanted list. In November 2024, he was detained. The Anti-Corruption Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs' own security department found Kulkeev at his home at his registered address in Karaganda.