In Kazakhstan, the damage from corruption crimes increased 2.5 times over the year

22.5 million US dollars amounted to damage from corruption crimes (by completed criminal investigations) in Kazakhstan for 7 months of 2019. For comparison, for the same period in 2018, this figure was only $ 9.1 million.

If we consider the established damage in the context of crimes, it turns out that the largest damage to the country’s economy was caused by abuse of power – $20.8 million. Excess of power or official authority caused damage in the amount of 704.3 thousand dollars. The top three also includes the appropriation or embezzlement of another’s property – 639.5 thousand dollars.

It should also be noted that law enforcement agencies out of 22.5 million dollars were able to compensate only 17.3 million dollars (76%). At the same time, according to the Committee on Legal Statistics, the property of corrupt officials was seized for a total amount of $ 4.7 million.

It is also worth noting that in June, 2019, the chairman of the Agency for Civil Service and Anti-Corruption Affairs, Alik Shpekbaev, said that the damage from corruption in Kazakhstan over the last three years amounted to 103.9 million dollars.

Recall, the second president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokaev, whose inauguration took place on June 12, 2019, said that the fight against corruption is one of the priority tasks.

“We must fight this evil together, as a society. It may be very late if we do not fight now. History knows many examples when large empires fell precisely because of corruption. This is a very topical issue, and even in the most developed countries corruption takes place. And we always talk about it openly. Corruption in our country is a big problem, for our security it is also a big risk. One of my priority goals is the fight against corruption,” Tokayev said at a press conference on the eve of the inauguration.