What is Known about Businessman who Stole KZT 840 million from National Fund

The Petropavlovsk City Court is currently hearing a criminal case against Semyon Pak, the director of Green Smart Farm. He is accused of embezzling 840 million tenge from the National Fund, funds he received through the Soltustik Social Entrepreneurship Corporation (SPK) for equipment purchases, Orda.kz reports.

Pak, 41 years old, is originally from Qonayev, Almaty region. He is unmarried but has two young children and has no prior convictions.

The businessman was arrested in May 2024 and is facing charges of large-scale fraud. During the preliminary court hearing, Pak’s lawyer requested the case be dismissed, arguing that his actions did not constitute a crime and that the investigation was biased against him.

The defense disputes the prosecution’s claim that Pak had criminal intent when he sought funding from the National Fund’s 15 billion tenge allocation for regional socio-economic development in 2021–2025.

Pak S.S. allegedly convinced the regional akimat leadership to include his business plan in the list of funded projects. He then applied for and received a loan from the SPK for 840 million tenge. On July 29, 2021, he entered into an agreement and an additional agreement to it,according to the court’s ruling. 

To demonstrate his commitment to the project, Pak purchased TOO "Gribnoy Mir," which owned a land plot in Petropavlovsk (St. G. Musrepova, 33 "b") and an unfinished mushroom greenhouse valued at 227.3 million tenge. 

He used this property as collateral for the loan, securing it under pledge agreement No. 90 dated July 29, 2021.

He used this as collateral, providing the SPK with property pledge agreement No. 90 dated July 29, 2021, the case materials state.

Pak eventually received the loan, but investigators claim he misused the funds.

A key question arises: Why was the loan amount only 840 million tenge when the financial and economic justification and budget application from the Department of Agriculture and Land Relations approved a total of 2.66 billion tenge (6.2 million USD)?

SPK, knowing for certain that the equipment purchased from the South Korean company was valued at 2,663,100,000 tenge, provided Green Smart Farm LLP with a completely different amount, i.e. 840,000,000 tenge, thereby deliberately putting Pak S.S. in a position of default (credit insolvency, debt hole), which inevitably entails a number of negative consequences (recognition as an unscrupulous supplier, criminal liability, etc.),  states the court resolution.

Despite the defense’s arguments, Judge Takhmina Sobirova denied the motion to dismiss the case and scheduled the main trial.

Notably, in 2021, the Akim of the North Kazakhstan region was Kumar Aksakalov.

Original Author: Kristina Yusicheva