Fugitive Asia Auto Executives Balushkin and Sagymbayev Sentenced in Absentia

A court in Oskemen has sentenced Asia Auto founder Anatoly Balushkin and CEO Yerik Sagymbayev in absentia to nine and eight and a half years in prison, respectively. The court confirmed the information, Orda.kz reports.

Both were found guilty of large-scale fraud, while Sagymbayev was additionally convicted of tax evasion.

The sentencing is part of a broader criminal case involving the embezzlement of 230 billion tenge and the collapse of the once-prominent car manufacturer. Balushkin is currently in Russia, where he has obtained citizenship.

Six other defendants received retroactive sentences and were released in March of this year. Two were acquitted.

According to the case materials, from 2013 to 2020, Anatoly Balushkin and Yerik Sagymbayev took out loans totaling 66 billion tenge, which were subsequently withdrawn through companies they created.

The scheme was particularly active in 2019-2020, when fictitious LLCs were registered, where the assets flowed. Thus, the property ended up in the hands of structures controlled by the accused.

In 2020, to conceal a shortfall of 3.9 billion tenge, Balushkin and Sagymbayev issued “bonuses” to employees that were never actually paid.

In addition, the company enjoyed tax breaks between 2010 and 2020. However, it never fulfilled its obligations to launch the car assembly plant:

When the preferences expired in 2017, the company managed to extend them by providing forged documents. The damage to the state amounted to 173 billion tenge,they told the court. 

During the debate, the state prosecutor requested 10 years of imprisonment for both defendants.

The defense insisted on acquittal. Having found both guilty, the court sentenced Balushkin to nine years of imprisonment and Sagymbaev to eight and a half years in a medium-security penal colony.

Original Author: Indira Kakimova, Aliya Askarova