Kazakh court sentences four for kidnapping foreigners, robbery, and extortion
Tengrinews.kz - A specialized inter-district criminal court in Kazakhstan has sentenced four individuals in a high-profile case involving kidnapping, robbery, and extortion.
The court found the defendants guilty of multiple charges under the Criminal Code, including extortion, robbery, and kidnapping.
The case revealed that two of the accused lured an acquaintance, a businessman, to a rented apartment under false pretenses. Once there, they assaulted him, threatened his family, and demanded money, leveraging damaging information to coerce him.
"They tied the businessman up, held a folding knife to his throat, and took photos and videos, demanding $200,000 and three specific cars. One of the cars was valued at 20 million tenge," the press service of the Abay Regional Court reported.
In another episode, involving foreign nationals, the accused conspired to rob two Chinese nationals engaged in gold mining in Ust-Kamenogorsk.
"After conspiring together, they prepared military camouflage, ropes, masks, and an object resembling a pistol. M., T.Sh., and D.Sh. ambushed the car carrying N. and the victims. The attackers assaulted the victims, threatened to kill them, and stole their mobile phones and money. The total damage exceeded seven million tenge," clarified the press service of the Abay Regional Court.
To conceal their collusion with the driver, the defendants pretended to assault him as well and took his phone.
"They then locked the Chinese nationals in the trunk and kidnapped them, demanding additional money," reported the press service of the Abay Regional Court.
The court sentenced two of the defendants to 11 and 10 years in a maximum-security prison, with one of them identified as a repeat offender. The other two received sentences of 9 years and 8 years and 6 months, to be served in a medium-security facility.
The victims had requested harsh sentences, and despite the accused denying the charges, the court found them guilty based on the evidence presented.