Court Continued Hearing in Case Involving Former KNB Official Manat Sarbasov

On 11 August, the Specialized Inter-District Court of Shymkent continued to review the criminal case against former head of the 10th department of the city’s National Security Committee, Manat Sarbasov.

Several defendants are involved in the case.

As part of the proceedings, the investigation is examining individual episodes of alleged violations during tenders, including the purchase of medical equipment and personal protective equipment valued at over 90 million tenge.

"I Don't Understand Medical Vocabulary"

Key testimony was provided by witness Mierzhan Zhalairov, a freelance employee of the state procurement department who worked on preparing tender documents for the commission. He is linked to episodes involving the preparation of documentation for two purchases — contracts with LLP ARLAN-FARM and LLP Medico KZ. 

According to case materials, both were concluded from a single source and without actual meetings of the tender committee.

During questioning, Zhalairov explained that he had no specialized education in medicine or government procurement, had only recently started working, and carried out purely technical tasks such as typing protocols, printing documents, and preparing letters on the instructions of his supervisor, Chingiz Zhanabayev.

Since I didn’t understand medical equipment, I practically only did the technical work that Zhanabayev assigned me, for example, typing the text of the protocol, printing it, answering letters,Zhalairov said.

He also told the court that he had not participated in commission meetings or delivered minutes to members for signing.

Zhalairov stated that he worked from templates, but the text was dictated by Zhanabayev.

There were samples, but Zhanabayev corrected them, told me where and how to write. I don't understand medical vocabulary, added Zhalairov.

Zhanabayev’s defense argues that he could not have been involved in preparing the contested documents, as he was absent from work during their creation and signing — first on vacation from June 17 to 22, 2020, in Almaty, and then on sick leave from June 24 to July 17.

No Intention?

According to the investigation, the actions in this episode may indicate violations of public procurement procedures. However, the defense maintains that the procurement was carried out, the equipment and PPE were delivered, and that the issues raised are procedural rather than indicative of deliberate criminal intent.

The hearings are ongoing, including other episodes related to multimillion-tenge tenders.

Original Author: Alexandra Kim