A government official in the Aktobe region received bribes from contractors.

On the defendant's bench for charges of bribery is the now-former head of the architecture, construction, housing and utilities, and road department of the Uil district, 42-year-old Aynat Kazmagambetov. He took up this position on March 11 of this year, and by April, he had committed a corruption crime.

“The spring flood destroyed homes, power lines, and roads in the Uil district. A local state of emergency was declared, and LLP ‘Project Firm Zhaba NS’ was brought in to assess the damage from the flood. On April 5, the architecture department signed a contract with this company for the procurement of services related to technical inspections and the preparation of cost estimates for repair and restoration work,” explains a source.

The charges indicate that Kazmagambetov demanded a bribe of 100,000 tenge from a representative of the contracting company in gratitude for the signed contract and general patronage. The contractor transferred the specified amount to the official after settling the payment for the work.

“In the summer of the same year, the official received another bribe, this time from a different contractor. Specifically, the official asked the director of LLP ‘BaitanatStroy’ what amount he was willing to offer as a thank-you for the signed contract. The contractor understood that if he refused, he would not receive the contract, so he offered 10% of the contract amount. The parties agreed on the bribe amount and subsequently signed a contract for construction and installation work on the project ‘Reconstruction of the overhead line 2VL–10kV’ in the western part of the village of Uil. The total contract amount was 31 million 202 thousand tenge. In August, Kazmagambetov received a bribe of 500 thousand tenge from the contractor,” the case material states.

The official fully admitted his guilt in the crime, and in order to receive the least possible punishment, he entered into a procedural agreement with the prosecutor's office to plead guilty. The case was heard by the criminal court in Aktobe.

On November 15, the judge issued a verdict in the corruption case. Aynat Kazmagambetov was sentenced to a fine of 21 million tenge for bribery and was permanently banned from working in public service.

The same verdict also convicted the director of the contracting firm — he was sentenced to a fine of 10 million tenge for giving a bribe. He was also prohibited from working in public service in the future.

The verdict has not yet come into legal force.