Suspect in Yereymentau Wind Farm Theft Case Extradited from Russia

The case involves theft during the construction of the second phase of the Yereymentau-1 wind farm. Two people have already been convicted, Orda.kz reports.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, a Kazakhstan citizen suspected of embezzling billions of rubles has been extradited from Russia. He was listed as the head of a construction company accused of embezzling 8.5 billion tenge from a subsidiary of Samruq-Energo.

The subsidiary is Yereymentau Wind Power LLC. Contractors of EWP signed fictitious contracts and transferred funds received from the Samruq-Energo subsidiary to affiliated organizations. Between 2020 and 2022, 8.5 billion tenge were stolen.

In May, a verdict was issued in the case. Former East Kazakhstan regional maslikhat deputy and head of two construction companies, Elena Belentseva, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison and stripped of her Order of Honor.

Lawyer Daniyar Mergenbyaev received six years and eight months.

The man recently extradited had fled to Russia and avoided trial.

In February of this year, he was detained in the Russian Federation, which, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ordered his extradition. The suspect is currently in pre-trial detention,the Prosecutor General's Office stated.

Belentseva’s case also mentions JSC “P,” to which her companies were supposed to supply transformers, but never did.

This company turned out to be Pavlodar River Port, which was linked this year to scandals involving large-scale repairs in Almaty, at Lake Sayran, and the Big Almatinka River.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin