Kazakhstan: a case was initiated on embezzlement of money allocated for the construction of a hospital
The Anti-Corruption Agency reported on the detention of the head of the Comfortable Urban Environment Department of Almaty, Sapar Nurashev, but then denied this information.
Information about Nurashev’s detention initially appeared on the Telegram channel “Official”. The report indicated that a pre-trial investigation was launched against Sapar Nurashev and the director of Bi-Industrial company under the article “Misappropriation or embezzlement of entrusted property of others, committed by a criminal group on an especially large scale”. Allegedly, the official and the entrepreneur stole budget money allocated for the construction of a modular infectious diseases hospital in Almaty with 280 beds to strengthen measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus infection. It’s worth noting that the audit confirmed the theft of $9.06 million from $12.7 million which was allocated for construction.
Firstly, the Anti-Corruption Department confirmed the detention of Nurashev in response to Kazakh media’s requests, but then the press service of the Department spread other information: a criminal case was opened, but the head of the Comfortable Urban Environment Department was not detained by the anti-corruption officials.
The city mayor’s office also has told reporters that Nurashev is at his workplace, and the information about his detention is not true.
Moreover, the mayor’s office spread a video in which Sapar Nurashev, sitting at the table in his office, responsibly declares that he works on behalf of the mayor and no one summoned him …
“Regarding Sapar Nurashev, the head of the Comfortable Urban Environment Department in Almaty, he was not detained. Just a pre-trial investigation has begun on embezzlement of budgetary funds during the construction of a modular hospital. According to rumors, the cost of all 3 infectious diseases modular hospitals was checked and the auditors found an overestimate. Therefore, criminal cases began. I want to note the following: Sapar Nurashev was appointed to his post in June, and the decision on construction and budget allocation was made at the end of March. Moreover, it was approved by the Ministry of Public Health, and we all remember who exactly did it. And then, the city administrations were forced to sign the acts,” wrote Marat Shibutov, a member of the Public Council of Almaty.
When quarantine began in Kazakhstan due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Public Health, which at that time was headed by Yelzhan Birtanov, suggested that the government allocate money for the construction of three modular infectious diseases hospitals in the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Chimkent. The construction was entrusted to BI-Group. The total cost of the three objects was about $ 35 million.
In November last year, in Almaty, patients of the newly built infectious diseases hospital were transferred to another clinic, as the building was not suited to the cold. It should also be reminded that the former Minister of Public Health, Yelzhan Birtanov, was arrested in November last year as part of a criminal investigation into the embezzlement of budget funds on an especially large scale.
