Court No. 2 in Atyrau found five defendants guilty of large-scale fraud during the reconstruction of the Astrakhan-Mangyshlak main water pipeline. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the prosecution, the scheme involved the former head of the subsidiary enterprise "Main Water Pipeline" of KazTransOil, his deputy, representatives of a contracting construction organization, and the founder of a design firm.
As established by the court, one of the defendants, using his official position and actually controlling the contractor, together with other participants, illegally adjusted the pipeline reconstruction project. In particular, the type of pipes was changed.
According to the investigation, the cost of materials in the project estimate documentation was inflated, while in fact the pipes were purchased much cheaper. Thus, funds allocated for the infrastructure project were illegally withdrawn, according to the prosecution.
The defendants did not admit guilt and asked the court to acquit them. The court considered their guilt proven by witness testimony, materials of covert investigative actions, correspondence, as well as conclusions of specialists and experts.
They were also banned from holding managerial positions and working in public service for various terms.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.
Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office reported that the total cost of the reconstruction of the Astrakhan-Mangyshlak water pipeline exceeded 17 billion tenge.
As part of the investigation, the property of the defendants was also checked. Assets worth approximately 1.1 billion tenge were identified. Part of this property was confiscated by the court to state revenue.
The court satisfied the claim for compensation of damage to the state in the amount of 6.4 billion tenge. An additional claim for 12 million tenge was left unsatisfied, since the damage in this part was not proven.