District Architecture Head Sentenced to Seven Years for Bribery

Shuga Saduakasova, head of the Shalkar District Department of Architecture and Construction, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for bribery. After the verdict was announced, she burst into tears, and guards handcuffed her in the courtroom, Orda.kz reports.

According to investigators, Saduakasova demanded money from two contractors. The court found her guilty under Article 366 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

She will serve her sentence in a medium-security penal colony.

Find her guilty and sentence her to seven years in prison. Ban her from public service for life. Collect the 2.25 million tenge remaining from the bribe and transfer it to the state. Transfer another six and a half million and five million from her friend’s account to the budget after the sentence comes into effect,
 Judge Sulushash Mukhambetova read out the verdict.

The court also issued a special ruling, drawing the attention of the Aqtobe Region akim to insufficient oversight by the district leadership.

According to case materials, Saduakasova extorted money from the heads of Daneker LLP and AsiaStroyProekt777.

Daneker LLP was implementing a 1.9 billion tenge project to reconstruct water pipelines in three villages—Qopmola, Jylan, and Kendala. To ensure the smooth signing of completion certificates, the official demanded payment. She also sought more than eight million tenge from the director of another company.

In court, company representatives testified that they had been forced to pay bribes. Saduakasova denied the charges and repeatedly requested that district akim Zhanbolat Zhidekhanov be summoned for questioning, claiming he had personally encouraged her to commit the offense.

The 56-year-old official, a native of the Qyzylorda Region and a trained construction worker, has served in government since 2005 and became head of the district architecture and construction department in 2024.

Original Author: Ardak Yerubaeva