The Military Court of the Aktobe Garrison has sentenced a former senior operational officer of the Border Guard Service of the National Security Committee (BGS NSC) in the Mangystau region to 6 years in prison for receiving housing payments after registering a marriage with the mother of four children. The court also ordered him to pay 43 million tenge in damages.
HOW THE SERVICEMAN OBTAINED HOUSING PAYMENTS
According to “Diapazon”, the defendant was a senior operational officer for particularly important cases in the counter-intelligence and intelligence directorate of the BGS NSC department in the Mangystau region. The serviceman was accused of fraud involving a fictitious marriage and artificially increasing his family size to obtain housing payments.
According to the indictment, Almat K. suggested that the mother of four divorce her husband and register a marriage with him. In return, he promised her 3 million tenge. After the marriage was registered, the serviceman had the children's birth certificates notarised and submitted the documents to the BGS NSC housing commission.
A few months later, 50 million tenge in housing payments, calculated on the basis of family size, were transferred to his bank account.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONEY RECEIVED
After receiving the payment, Almat K. drew up a purchase and sale agreement for an apartment belonging to the brother of his now former wife. 50 million 503 thousand tenge were transferred to the seller's account. On the same day, the money was withdrawn in cash and then transferred to the serviceman's account at another bank.
From this sum, he gave the woman 3 million tenge, which he had previously promised for registering the marriage. Later, the serviceman dissolved the marriage.
WHAT THE DEFENDANT SAID
Almat K. did not admit guilt. He claimed that he met the woman in a chat where she was talking about family problems. According to him, the correspondence grew into a mutual relationship, and the marriage was genuine.
The couple did not live together, as the defendant explained, because they were waiting for the children to finish their studies. He considered the housing payments he received to be lawful. He attributed the rapid divorce to the woman finding out about his previous wife's pregnancy. After the divorce, the serviceman remarried his first wife.
WHAT THE COURT ESTABLISHED
The mother of four told the court that she had no close relationship with Almat K., the couple did not live together, and the marriage was fictitious. According to her, she was persuaded to register it by the defendant and his wife.
The woman also stated that she only learned about the 50 million tenge received by the serviceman during the investigation, after which she herself filed a report against him. She said she spent the 3 million tenge she received on paying off debts and loans.
The Military Court of the Aktobe Garrison found the fact of the fictitious marriage to be established and found Almat K. guilty of fraud. The court sentenced him to 6 years in prison, ordered him to compensate the state for damages, and stripped him of the rank of lieutenant colonel.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.
