Court fines ex-Kyrgyz official sanctioned under Global Magnitsky Act $3,000 for corruption
BISHKEK. Feb 11 (Interfax) - A court in Bishkek on Thursday found Raimbek Matraimov, former deputy head of the Kyrgyz State Customs Service, guilty of corruption and fined him $3,000.
"The court has found Raimbek Matraimov guilty of a crime envisaged by the Corruption article of the Kyrgyz Criminal Code. He has been fined 260,000 som ($3,000)," the press service for Bishkek's Pervomaisky District Court told Interfax.
The court lifted the travel restrictions placed on Matraimov and lifted the freeze on his property, including his bank accounts, the press service said.
After the country's administration changed on October 20, 2020, Matraimov was detained by State National Security Committee officials in connection with a pretrial probe into corruption in customs bodies. The court then imposed travel restrictions on the former head of the Kyrgyz customs.
According to the State National Security Committee, the damage done by Matraimov's criminal actions to the republic's budget has been tentatively estimated at some two billion som ($24 million). The man has fully compensated for the damage.
In December, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Matraimov. It was reported that the former deputy head of the customs service, who had been involved in a scheme used to take at least $700 million out of Kyrgyzstan, had been added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, known as the Global Magnitsky Designations.