A children's coach in the Kostanay region embezzled nearly 6 million tenge.

“The investigation has established that from October 2022 to January 2024, a short track coach for children's and youth teams at the KSU ‘School of Higher Sports Mastery’ of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Akimat of Kostanay Region, using his official position, created fictitious advance reports that inflated the actual expenses by unlawfully including individuals who did not actually participate in the gatherings and competitions,” the prosecutor's office reported.

The funds received were embezzled by the coach. The total amount of misappropriated budget funds amounted to 5.9 million tenge. Subsequently, the stolen funds were laundered by depositing them into a savings account, from which he received a monthly interest payment at a rate of 9.6%. The amount of legalized criminal income in the form of interest from the deposit totaled 613.1 thousand tenge.

His actions have been classified under Article 189, Part 3, Clause 1, “Theft of entrusted property, using official position, in a large amount,” and Article 218, Part 1, “Legalization (laundering) of money, i.e., involvement of funds obtained through criminal means into lawful circulation through transactions in the form of conversion” of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The penalties stipulated by the articles provide for a maximum punishment of seven years of imprisonment, with confiscation of property, and deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in specific activities for up to six years. The criminal case has been submitted to Court No. 2 of the city of Kostanay.