Kazakh court sentences smugglers over $19 million contraband scheme from China

A court in Almaty has issued guilty verdicts in a major smuggling case involving the illegal import of over 100 containers of consumer goods from China, with damages to the Kazakh state estimated at nearly $19 million.

According to the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) of Kazakhstan, the case centred around the LLP “Group of the Companies TDA,” which held the status of an authorised economic operator. Investigators found that the company smuggled large volumes of goods into the country while also issuing fictitious invoices using a network of 10 affiliated LLPs.

“The LLP ‘Group of the Companies TDA’, holding the status of an authorised economic operator, illegally imported over 100 containers of consumer goods from China via smuggling. In addition, by using 10 affiliated LLPs, they issued fictitious invoices,” the FMA said in a statement.

As a result of the scheme, the state suffered financial losses amounting to 10 billion tenge (approximately $18.8 million) in unpaid value-added tax, corporate income tax, and customs duties.

Authorities recovered 643 million tenge during the pre-trial investigation. In addition, goods worth 1.3 billion tenge were seized for potential confiscation, along with properties belonging to the suspects, including land plots, vehicles, buggies, and mobile tents totalling around 300 million tenge.

The Almalty District Court sentenced the convicted individuals to prison terms ranging from 1.4 to 4.6 years, with full asset confiscation. One suspect remains at large and has been placed on the international wanted list, the FMA added.

By Vugar Khalilov