In accordance with the directives of the Head of State, the Anti-Corruption Service pays attention to ensuring the principle of lawfulness in the education sector.

For example, the Anti-Corruption Service of the Aktobe region is investigating a criminal case against the acting head of the regional department for ensuring quality in education. He is suspected of repeatedly accepting bribes from heads of educational institutions in exchange for facilitating the state certification process.

The Anti-Corruption Service of the Kyzylorda region is conducting a pre-trial investigation against the head of the education department in the city of Kyzylorda. She is suspected of accepting a bribe of KZT 1 mln from a city resident for employing her relative as a teacher in an organization under her jurisdiction.

In the Aktobe region, a criminal case is under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Service against the chief specialist of the education department of the city of Aktobe. She is suspected of embezzling budget funds amounting to KZT 4.9 mln by unjustifiably allocating herself a salary above the established norm.

The investigation is in progress.

According to Article 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code, further information is not subject to disclosure in the interests of the investigation.

The Enbekshikazakh District Court of the Almaty region announced a verdict against the head of the Education Department of the Balhash district D. Akmoldaeva and eight accountants from the same department. They were found guilty of embezzling budget funds amounting to KZT 129.6 mln by allocating themselves inflated salaries.

D. Akmoldaeva was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months of imprisonment and banned from holding public service positions for life. The accountants received sentences ranging from 2 to 8 years of imprisonment along with bans from holding public service positions for 3 to 10 years.

The Taldykorgan City Court announced a verdict against the chief accountant of Secondary School No. 12 of Taldykorgan municipal government institutions G. Salpinova and the school's accountant N. Yusupov. They were found guilty of embezzling budget funds amounting to KZT 24.5 mln by allocating themselves a salary above the established norm. G. Salpinova and N. Yusupov were sentenced to 8 and 7 years of imprisonment, respectively. In addition, the convicts are banned from holding public service positions and positions in quasi-state entities for 10 years.

The court rulings have not yet come into legal force.

In accordance with subparagraph 1 of paragraph 3 of Article 77 of the Constitution and part 1 of Article 19 of the Criminal Procedure Code, every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court decision that has entered into legal force.

To minimize the risk of embezzlement, uniform technical requirements for accounting software with risk management systems have been introduced in almost all regions. These systems allow for timely prevention of salary manipulation and “dead souls,” as well as blocking the entry of fictitious data. Additionally, the "Cloud Accounting" project is being implemented, which aims to centralize all accounting systems and integrate them with the databases of government authorities, including the Treasury.

This project will ensure transparency in budget planning and eliminate the risks of entering fictitious data in payment documents and other financial violations.

Currently, Governor’s Offices are conducting monthly automatic reconciliations of the accounting systems of educational organizations with the reports of the Treasury. Any discrepancies are rechecked.

Additionally, since August of this year, the Internal Audit Committee and its regional departments have been carrying out desk audits of payments to detect unjustified salary allocations. All suspicious transactions are submitted for analysis to the Anti-Corruption Service, the Education Department, and the organization that made the payment.

This process allows for the tracking of all suspicious transactions and the detection of violations. One of the new measures is the implementation of an automated verification mechanism for payment documents to ensure the accuracy of the personal data of the recipients of monetary payments.

Thus, since March 1, as part of the implementation of item 9 of the Roadmap, the information system of the Treasury Committee of the Ministry of Finance has been integrated with the state database of individuals maintained by the Ministry of Justice. Now all payments to teachers – including salaries, travel allowances, bonuses, and vacation pay – are automatically verified against official data by individual identification number and full name.

Additionally, secondary-level banks reconcile incoming payments by individual identification number with the bank account data. This completely suppresses the possibility of transferring funds based on fictitious data, such as when a bank account of a third party is listed under the name of an active employee.

It should be noted that the implemented mechanism applies not only to educational organizations but also to other state institutions that make payments through the Treasury system.

We are already seeing significant changes and the effects of the measures taken.

If, in 2023, embezzlements in this sector exceeded KZT 17 bln, then in 2024, thanks to the new measures, such losses have been significantly reduced to KZT 22 mln.

Work in this area will continue.

#Law_and_Order
#LAWandORDER

❗️ If you are faced with corruption, please report it by Hotline 1424 and send photos/videos to our WhatsApp chat bot at +7 777 000 1424 and to our Telegram bot @antikorkz_bot!

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/anticorruption/press/news/details/960593?lang=kk