In Shymkent, authorities continue to hold civil servants accountable for their involvement in gambling. According to the city akimat, measures are being taken based on a submission from the prosecutor's office, and the total damage from officials' participation in betting exceeds 400 million tenge.
According to MIA "Kazinform", during the inspection, authorised bodies identified 54 employees involved in gambling. Of these, 30 are civil servants. According to available information:
- 14 people resigned of their own accord and were subjected to disciplinary action;
- 10 employees were dismissed on negative grounds for gross violation of official ethics standards;
- 20 people are currently under internal investigation.
"This is a requirement of the law. We cannot act otherwise. Of course, we are sorry that there may have been qualified specialists among them. But this is an illness, and they became its hostages. After dismissal, it will be difficult for them to find employment. However, the law is the same for everyone, and no one is above it. Therefore, we are obliged to strictly comply with its norms," commented Deputy Akim Sarsen Kuranbek.
The akimat did not specify which particular gambling activities the funds were spent on, nor the time period in which the violations occurred. It also did not state how the amount of damage — 400 million tenge — was calculated.
For context, in February last year, the Aktobe City Court handed down a verdict to the chief accountant of school-gymnasium No. 55, Bekzat Tazhenov, who lost embezzled state money amounting to over 413 million tenge on betting.
In March, an employee of the Department of State Revenues of the Mangistau Region was suspended from his post for betting at a bookmaker's office.
In May, the prosecutor's office of the Karatobe District of the West Kazakhstan Region revealed that an accountant for a state institution, using the manager's EDS key, transferred budget funds amounting to approximately 7 million tenge to his own account. It was reported that the defendant only compensated for damages of 1 million tenge. In court, he stated that the embezzled funds were spent on online gambling.
In July, in the Ulytau Region, the chief specialist of the Satpayev City Akimat was dismissed for involvement in gambling. According to information provided by bookmaker companies "1XBET" and "OLIMPBET", he placed bets totalling around 16 million tenge.