Prison for a Rusty Fountain: Ex-Head of Astana’s Culture Department Sentenced

The Inter-District Criminal Court of Astana has found Bolat Mazhagulov, the former head of the city’s Culture Department, guilty of embezzling public funds during the construction of the "Sun" fountain on the Yesil River, Orda.kz reports.

Judge Asel Mukushova delivered the sentence:

To find Bolat Mazhagulov guilty under Article 189, Part 4, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan for embezzlement or misappropriation of entrusted property on a large scale. He is to be sentenced to 8.5 years of imprisonment and will be permanently deprived of the right to hold any civil service positions. The sentence will be served in a medium-security institution.

The second defendant, Madi Kanapin, the head of the construction company, received 3.5 years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding any civil service positions.

The court considered his epilepsy diagnosis as a mitigating factor.

Mazhagulov and Kanapin were accused of embezzling 1 billion tenge, which was allocated for the construction of the floating "Sun" fountain with laser and music show feature. Investigators found that the fountain's construction used substandard metal, deviating from the original design and rendering it unusable.

In court, the lawyers argued that the charges were based on speculation and that the examinations were flawed. However, prosecutor Azamat Toktarbay argued that the evidence was solid and requested a 10-year sentence for Mazhagulov.

Original Author: Anastasia Prilepskaya