Two Former Court Chairmen in Kazakhstan Sentenced to Prison for Corruption

A court in Petropavlovsk has delivered a landmark verdict, sentencing two former chairmen of local courts to real prison terms for corruption. The case, which involved bribery and fraud, concluded with the conviction of all five defendants.

The convicted former judges are 46-year-old Bekbol Baimakhanov, who served as chairman of the specialized inter-district economic court of the North Kazakhstan region from 2022 to 2024, and 41-year-old Erlan Ibraev, who was chairman of Petropavlovsk's Court No. 2 from 2021 until January 2025. Their co-defendants included Almaty-based legal consultant Artem Ivanov and two local businessmen, Gevorg Poghosyan and Hamlet Melkonyan.

The prosecution detailed three separate criminal episodes. In the first, Baimakhanov was accused of agreeing to accept a bribe from lawyer Ivanov. The deal involved ensuring a favorable court ruling for a collection agency in a land dispute case in exchange for $50,000. A fellow judge, Omarov, reported the scheme to the National Security Committee (KNB), leading to an investigation. Part of the bribe money ($15,000) was later found and seized from Baimakhanov's office.

The second episode involved both judges. Businessman Poghosyan, fearing his road construction company would be blacklisted over asphalt defects, sought help through his acquaintance Melkonyan, who knew Judge Ibraev. Ibraev then approached Baimakhanov to influence the court case in exchange for 2.5 million tenge (approximately $5,300). According to the prosecution, Poghosyan's fears were unfounded as the defects had been fixed and he could have won the case legitimately.

In the third episode, businessman Melkonyan himself offered a bribe to both judges—initially $10,000—to have his individual enterprise declared bankrupt and his debts written off. The amount was later reduced to 2 million tenge ($4,200). His company was briefly declared bankrupt by the economic court before an appellate court overturned the decision due to a lack of grounds.

On March 4th, Judge Asem Dzhanalina of the Petropavlovsk City Court announced the sentences. Bekbol Baimakhanov received eight years in prison with a lifelong ban on holding public office and confiscation of over 1.2 million tenge. Erlan Ibraev was sentenced to six years under similar conditions with confiscation of 2.25 million tenge.

Lawyer Artem Ivanov received six years in prison. Businessmen Hamlet Melkonyan and Gevorg Poghosyan were sentenced to four years and three-and-a-half years respectively. All will serve their terms in medium-security penal institutions.

The court also issued a separate ruling concerning Judge Omarov, who had reported his colleagues' crimes but was found to have violated judicial ethics codes by organizing meetings between Baimakhanov and Ivanov where bribes were discussed.