According to Astana TV, the story of two Chinese businessmen, Ke Jiaydun and Zhu Zunbiao, has been ongoing for several years. They initially opened a metallurgy plant in Shymkent together. However, in 2020, Ke Jiaydun discovered his partner's fraudulent activities. Zhu Zunbiao forged signatures and documents, embezzling over one billion tenge and selling one of the company's land plots.
The court first found Zhu Zunbiao guilty and sentenced him to three years of probation. This decision did not satisfy the victim, who filed an appeal. The court has now made a ruling on that appeal. Zhu Zunbiao received a four-year restriction of liberty under probation supervision.
"He has been sentenced to a four-year restriction of liberty under these articles. According to parts 1 and 2 of Article 44 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, probation control is established for Zhu Zunbiao for this period." Judge Kanatbek Konyrbaev of the Shymkent City Court's Criminal Chamber
This decision did not satisfy the victim, Ke Jiaydun. According to him, his deceiving partner has once again escaped harsh punishment.
"We consider the verdict issued to be unjustified and absurd. Zhu Zunbiao has already received conditional sentences several times, in 2019, 2021, and now in 2023, and he has once again avoided severe punishment. We assert that he has patrons who assist him in court. This is evidenced by the fact that today the court once again issued a lenient sentence, ignoring the seriousness of the charges and key circumstances of the case. Can this be called justice? He does not care about Kazakh laws; another conditional term or a light punishment. Once again, thanks to his patrons, he has evaded responsibility. This is absurd, not justice." Victim investor Ke Jiaydun
According to the victim, the Shymkent court effectively ignored the charges of embezzling and misappropriating funds exceeding one billion tenge. Instead of addressing serious financial crimes, the focus was placed on the forgery of documents, leaving the fate of the embezzled funds and the question of their return unaddressed.
"The court, referring to the presence of two cash books in the Partnership—one marked with a note about the return of money and the other without it—interpreted these contradictions in favor of the accused. Such an approach creates a dangerous precedent where criminals can evade responsibility by manipulating documents. We are astonished by the Kazakh justice system. How many times can one criminal receive conditional sentences and light punishments? That is why we speak of patrons; what we see in the Shymkent trial is outright lawlessness." Ke Jiaydun
The victim intends to contest the new verdict, but this time in the Supreme Court.
It was previously reported that China is increasing its economic presence in Central Asia.