Court Sentences Shardara Education Department Employees for Large-Scale Embezzlement

In the Turkestan Region, the court has delivered a verdict in the case of the Shardara District Education Department, where more than 3.7 billion tenge in state funds was stolen, Orda.kz reports.

The trial involved 15 defendants and lasted seven months. The court sentenced the head of the education department to ten years in prison, while several accountants received seven-year terms.

All property acquired through criminal means is to be confiscated in favor of the state. These are houses, apartments, about 20 objects of movable and immovable property, as well as a pavilion selling gold in a shopping center,
judge Dauren Madaliyev said when reading the verdict.

Not all of the defendants were imprisoned. One avoided punishment after fully reimbursing the damages. Three were released under amnesty due to age, while two others received a five-year delay in serving their sentences because of minor children. One accountant died before the case went to trial.

Each of the accused was charged with misappropriating more than 100 million tenge.

Relatives of the convicted have said they will appeal the ruling.

I don't agree with the court's decision. I've never seen my wife take that kind of money. I think it's slander,
 said the husband of one of the defendants.

This is not the first such case in the education sector. Last year, Orda.kz reported on the theft of 4.6 billion tenge in Taldykorgan, where chief accountant Madlen Sergazinova was the main figure.

Original Author: Nazerke Erkinbekkyzy