Prisoners in Almaty Region Colonies Found to Have 5.2 Billion Tenge Thieves' Common Fund

Reports surfaced in December 2023 on the arrest of people illegally collecting funds to finance convicted persons both inside and outside of prisons. We even sent a request to the Almaty region special prosecutor, Bakustar Kydyrbayev. However, we were unable to obtain the materials at that time. Apparently, the special prosecutor decided to "consolidate" and then provide information. And on August 24, that day came, Orda.kz reports.

In criminal jargon, an obshchak (thieves' common fund—Ed.) is a mutual fund within a criminal community. There are two types: in and outside places of imprisonment. According to thieves' laws, contributions to the obshchak must be voluntary, although, in practice, this is not always the case. 

A criminal leader who enjoys the trust of criminals (thieves in law, enforcers, or overseers) controls the fund. The community strictly punishes rule violations for its collecting, storing, and using. Criminals began to form "obshchaks" even before the beginning of the 20th century.

 
Convenient Applications 

It would seem that banned items behind barbed wire only exist in mafia movies. Yet, convicted persons in Kazakhstan brought the myth to life  - in just a year and a half, they were able to conduct transactions for 5.2 billion tenge.

They bought not only food, cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs but also the Almaty region DUIS institution employees.

Relatives of convicted persons, e.g., parents, brothers, sisters, spouses, and children, topped up the common fund using a banking application.

Anything You Can Do...

The thieves' cash fund in women's colony No. 10 in the village of Jaugashty was controlled by a 28-year-old girl serving a sentence for kidnapping a child. Almaty residents may remember the six-year-old crime. Criminals kidnapped the underage daughter of businessman Rustem Bulekbayev. The common fund's keeper is one of them. The court sentenced her to seven and a half years. During this time, she has managed to escape.

The young woman did not waste time and organized a thief's fund. She was engaged in the sale of prohibited items: cell phones, alcoholic beverages, and drugs.

She issued a bank card to a friend's relative. In 2023 alone, prosecutors found about 100 million tenge on her card.

The young woman operated with the institution's administration, which facilitated bringing in prohibited items. The special prosecutor's office registered a pre-trial investigation into this fact.

The Ili District Court of the Almaty Region sentenced the institution's employees, Ametov, Shayakhmetov, and Berik, to two years of restricted freedom in a criminal case. The police officers struck a deal with the investigation, and the court took this fact into account.

A pre-trial investigation was registered against officials of institution No. 10 on the grounds of a criminal offense under Article 371, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Pre-Trial Investigation Department of the Regional Prosecutor's Office accepted the case.

You Want It, We Got It

Convicted men serving their sentences in correctional facility No. 57 in the village of Jarechny also used a banking application.

Two convicted persons - one for homicide, the other for drug trafficking - collected 52.5 million tenge for the common fund. They were engaged in the sale of mobile phones, alcohol, and drugs and ordered roasted lambs, lobsters, and shellfish from Almaty. The administration of the institution helped.

The prisoners were so sure of their impunity that they made direct transfers to employees of institutions No. 12 and No. 57, their acquaintances, and relatives.

In September 2023, operational investigative measures were initiated on these facts against officials of institution No. 57 and the management of the DUIS in the Almaty region. The case was sent to the Almaty region DKNB.

In the spring, in the city of Qonayev, the KNB Department for the Almaty Region and the prosecutor's office detained Petr Pisarev, the head of correctional colony No. 57. He is suspected of receiving bribes from convicted persons for general patronage and creating comfortable conditions for serving their sentences.

On May 31, the deputy head of the regime and operational work of institution No. 57, Nurlan Bidaybekov, was detained. He also covered for the convicts.

The Jackpot

Special prosecutors were taken aback when they began collecting information about the thieves' common fund in correctional facility No. 12 in Jarechny.

The following amounts were found on the convicts’ card accounts:

• A man convicted of sexual harassment was found to have 277,742,776 tenge
• Convicted B. - 208,982,596 tenge
• Convicted Ts. - 148,283,811 tenge
• Convicted A. - 166,750,141 tenge
• Convicted Sh. - 59,568,569 tenge
• Convicted M. - 51,414,171 tenge
• Convicted K. - 75,908,742 tenge
• Convicted T. - 77,893,625 tenge
• Convicted A. - 67,510,605 tenge
• Convicted K. - 54,220,140 tenge
• Convicted K. - 80,388,524 tenge.

The total amount of all transactions in institution No. 12 alone exceeded 1.8 billion tenge.

There is also much to do. While serving their sentences, they gamble en masse, invest money, and buy and sell cryptocurrency.

Inspections have begun in institutions Nos. 14 and 49 of the State Penitentiary Service in Almaty, the Almaty region, and the Jetysu region.

Formerly convicted persons are also being investigated. 

One such person received over 503 million tenge on his card in the first seven months of 2023. After being released from institution No. 14 of the DUIS in the Almaty Region, he changed his last name and moved to Almaty. He used the common money to buy a Land Cruiser 300 and real estate. However, he was killed in the previous year. The next day, a repeat offender came to the police in Karasay District and confessed to the killing.

Someone may not have liked how he spent the thieves’ common fund.

Original Author: Sandugash Duysenova