Beketayev: SAC Head Comments on Audit Preceding Arrest

The Supreme Audit Chamber Head shared details of the audit into the Ministry of Justice's activities in 2023 on the sidelines of the Senate, Orda.kz reports.

He said the Supreme Audit Chamber initiated an inspection of the Ministry of Justice and its subordinate organizations. Antikor then took the inspection results, and Beketayev was soon detained. 

In accordance with the list of subjects of state audit for 2023, the Supreme Audit Chamber conducted audit activities in the Ministry of Justice and its subordinate organizations on the use of funds from the republican budget for individual budget programs. Our conclusions were taken by the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan and a separate group of individuals were detained in this regard, said Smailov.

He did not confirm whether the results of this particular audit led to Marat Beketayev's arrest. However, the arrest occurred after the audit. 

On October 21, 2023, Beketayev attempted to fly to Istanbul and then London to evade possible punishment.

The former Minister had long been under travel restrictions, first as a witness and then as a suspect in the investigation.

The investigation was not conducted openly to avoid information leaks. 

The focus of the investigation is the court proceedings of the Republic of Kazakhstan in international jurisdictions, which were conducted by the Bolashak Consulting Group, a key contractor of the Ministry of Justice associated with Beketayev. It also concerns the illegal transfer of assets abroad under the patronage of Karim Massimov.

Original Author: Ilya Astakhov