Kazakh Deputy Education Minister Arrested On Embezzlement Charges

Deputy Education Minister Sayat Shayakhmetov (center) in a public appearance from late April

ASTANA, -- Kazakhstan's deputy education minister, Sayat Shayakhmetov, has been arrested and charged with embezzlement.

The Kazakh Financial Police announced on May 20 that Shayakhmetov had been placed under house arrest three days earlier.

The Financial Police said Shayakhmetov is suspected of embezzling more than $9.7 million from a project to build a new school in the East Kazakhstan Oblast.

The chief of the Education and Science Objects Construction Directorate, whose name was given by police as A. Pak, was also arrested.

Based on reporting by finpol.gov.kz and KazTAG