The Kazakhstan Anti-Corruption Agency reported another high-profile corruption crime, the defendants of which are former officials of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the city of Almaty.
“The Anti-Corruption Service in Almaty found that the ex-head of the Sports Department of Almaty and his subordinates, by prior agreement with the director of a private company, embezzled budget funds in the amount of $ 775,000 by drawing up fictitious contracts for the rental of sports equipment, the purchase of certificates and cups as part of public procurement and unjustified transfer of funds to the bank accounts of relatives of the director of the company. Other information in the interests of the investigation is not subject to disclosure,” the agency said in a statement.
It should be noted that the current head of the Almaty Sports Department Yerden Khairullin was appointed to this post on May 26 this year. Before him, the main sports functionary of the city was Rustem Baiseitov. He took over the department in July 2018. The reason for Rustem Baiseitov’s resignation was an injury sustained during the January protests in Almaty. On January 6, the cortege of the mayor of the city (at that time) Bakytzhan Sagintayev was fired upon by protesters. Some of those accompanying the mayor was injured. So the cameraman Diasken Baitibaev got a bullet in his hand. He subsequently had two fingers amputated. The driver of the TV channel “Almaty” Muratkhan Bazarbayev received injuries incompatible with life. The driver of the mayor of Almaty and two employees of the mayor’s office were also injured: the head of the religion department Nurlan Kikimov and the head of the sports department Rustem Baiseitov.
“Enough time has passed since I received a bullet wound in the January events, but the injury still worries me a lot and my working capacity has not been restored. Since it is necessary to undergo full-fledged rehabilitation courses and restore the motor activity of the forearm, I decided to leave the post of head of the Sports Department of the city of Almaty and take care of my health, ”Baiseitov later said about the reasons for his resignation.
Whether he is a defendant in a corruption case that is currently being investigated by the anti-corruption department is not known for sure. Among the candidates for this unenviable fate may be Baiseitov’s predecessor – President of the Almaty Gymnastics Federation, Honorary President of the Kikushin Karate Federation, Master of Sports in judo Abil Donbaev, who headed the Almaty Sports Department from August 2016 to July 2018. At the moment, Donbaev is the head of the Consumer Rights Protection Department of the Pavlodar region.
The fact is that just recently the name of Donbaev has repeatedly surfaced in other corruption scandals. So, in March last year, the former director of sports school No. 9, Tahir Kashkuli, reported that Abil Donbaev forced him to cover the theft at the Universiade in Almaty.
“In 2016, Abil Donbaev was appointed head of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of Almaty. When the Universiade was over, material and technical values began to be taken out of the athletic village. I receive an act for $224,000, which states that I did not receive it. I went to Donbaev. They told me: “Either sign, or write that you undertake to pay off material damage, or we will fire you.” It was in June 2017 and in 2018, on the basis of an audit by the audit commission, I was fired without even letting me pass the case, ”Kashkuli told reporters.
According to the director of the sports school, when he wrote a statement to the anti-corruption service about embezzlement during the Universiade and filed a lawsuit demanding that his dismissal be declared illegal, charges were brought against him for a shortage of $ 9 thousand, and then for causing material damage to over $60,000.
In addition, according to some reports, Donbaev’s name also surfaced as part of the investigation into the case of the former head of the National Security Committee, Karim Massimov, who is now under arrest on suspicion of treason, preparation for a violent seizure of power and abuse of office, as well as taking a bribe in the amount of $2 million.
So, according to insiders, another case is now being investigated against Massimov, the defendants of which are other former high-ranking officials of Kazakhstan, including the former head of the Anti-Corruption Agency Kairat Kozhamzharov, who is now a member of parliament.
Allegedly, the well-known sambist and businessman Manarbek Agaidarov suffered from the actions of Kozhamzharov and his subordinates. In 2018, a pre-trial investigation was launched against him. And it seems like the investigators now have Agidarov’s testimony about those events. Allegedly, immediately after the start of the pre-trial investigation, the head of the Almaty Sports Department, Abil Donbaev, contacted him and offered his assistance in resolving this sensitive issue. Having received the consent, Donbaev introduced Agidarov to a certain confidant of Kairat Kozhamzharov, who promised that the court case would be closed in exchange for 600,000 dollars. However, the extraction of money from the businessman did not stop there. But that’s another story that has nothing to do with Donbaev.
So it is difficult to say now which ex-head of sports in Almaty (Donbaev or Baiseitov) is being investigated for the theft of $775,000. But, as a rule, Kazakhstani anti-corruption fighters are not shy, and any major detention is reported fairly quickly and in detail.
