A high-profile trial ended in Shymkent
The Specialized interdistrict criminal court in Shymkent pronounced sentence to four people from the South Kazakhstan late in 5th March, Monday. The criminals were charged with blackmailing first and with fraudulence next.
Ratel.kz reported this story. We remind to our readers that a conflict arouse between business partners: KHON Chgi Chgong, a South Korean investor, and Jorabek YUSUPZHANOV and Bekzad NARMETOV, his counterparts from Shymkent. The foreigner accused the Kazakhstani people with stealing profits from his company and blackmailing 50 thousand dollars.
The case dates back to 2016 when Mr. Khon established a workshop to produce building gloves in Shymkent and appointed Mr. Narmetov a managing director because the Korean spoke neither Kazakh nor Russian to run business.
In a year, when he wanted to sell his company, a conflict between partners broke out.
The local criminals headed by Rafael BIKBAEV, a notorious criminal kingpin, known under nickname of Rafik of Shymkent, also made their appearance in the conflict.
Khon Chgi Chgong levelled accusation against Mr. Yusupzhanov and Mr. Narmetov in seeking criminal assistance to browbeat the foreigner and to empty his wallet.
The accused, in their turn, stated that the situation is a mockery well elaborated y the Korean, who didn't want to repay a lump of money to Jorabek Yusupzhanov.
The Kazakhstani reportedly lent the foreigner 280 thousand dollars to purchase equipment for the workshop and other 300 thousand dollars to pay salaries. When the time came to repay, Mr. Khon said that he did not get anything from Mr. Yusupzhanov.
The Korean hold his ground in the trial even when the defense lawyers presented to the court statements testifying bank transfer to Khon Chi Kong's account in the South Korea and в other bank statements.
Nonetheless, defense lawyers weren't successful in proving innocence of their defendants. The judges sentenced them for long prison terms.
Bekzad Narmetov was sentenced for 6 and half years of custodial restraint and Jorabek Yusupzhanov, for six years in prison colony.
The wheels of justice ran over another two people: Bakhtiyar MUMINZHONOV and Batraz FARNIEV. One of them was an interpreter who helped Khon Chi Kong to communicate with the criminal world men. Nevertheless, he was also attached to group of persons who had been high jacking a lump of money from the foreigner.
Now both Muminzhonov and Farniev have been sentenced to imprisonment of five years and five months.
All four were criminated under "Fraudulence" article. The judges have excluded the case over blackmailing 50 thousand dollars from the trial.
As for the criminal kingpin Rafik of Shymkent, he is still kept under arrest. The criminal case in regards of him and his henchmen will be reviewed in a separate trial.
