Budget Fund Embezzlement: Former KazAvtoJol Board Head Sentenced

On December 18, the Astana Interdistrict Criminal Court issued a verdict in a budget fund embezzlement case, Orda reports.

Former Chair of JSC NC KazAvtoJol Askar Muratuly, with contractor Zh., was found guilty of misappropriating someone else's property by a group of persons by prior conspiracy using their official position.

Court documents specify that Muratuly had known the contractor since the 2000s.

From 2017 to 2019, he headed the Department of Passenger Transport and Highways of the Aqmola Region.

From 2019 to 2021, he held the post of regional Deputy Akim. He was later appointed Chair of the Board of JSC NC KazAvtoJol.

In 2019, the KazAvtoJol branch concluded a contract with the Zh's company (Asyl-ZHAS) to repair the bridge over the Ishim River on the Jaqsy-Yesil-Buzuluq highway. The cost was 2.2 billion tenge. 

However, the contractor did not receive the money, and in 2021, the contract was terminated at the customer's initiative.

In April 2021, Muratuly became the Chair of KazAvtoJol's Board.

The following summer, he initiated a meeting with Zh and proposed concluding a new contract with Asyl-ZhAS through single-source procurement, although there were no grounds for this.

On October 20, 2021, he issued an illegal single-source procurement order for a new contract worth more than 2.2 billion tenge. Dike LLP and Asyl-ZhAS LLP were to perform the work.

Both companies were in rehabilitation due to debts of more than 900 million tenge and could not fulfill the contract terms.

On October 21, 2021, the Aqmola branch of KazAvtoJol signed an agreement with the consortium of Dike LLP and Asyl-ZhAS LLP. On December 28, 2021, an advance payment of 200 million tenge was transferred to the account of Asyl-ZhAS.

These funds were stolen and misappropriated by M. and Zh. The damage to the state has still not been compensated,the court writes.

Ultimately, the court found them guilty. Witness testimony, audit reports, and material evidence confirmed their guilt. The prosecutor demanded that each be sentenced to 8 years in prison.

The defendants pleaded not guilty and requested acquittal.

Considering the minor children of the defendants and the absence of criminal records, the court punished Article 189, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which provides for 7 to 12 years of imprisonment.

The court did not establish any aggravating circumstances.

Original Author: Olga Ibraeva