Copper-stealing criminals convicted in Zhezkazgan

Legal proceedings have finished in Zhezkazgan against 15 people stealing large volumes of copper from warehouses of Kazakhmys Corporation copper plant. The criminals are sentenced to various prison terms and forfeiture of property, Interfax-Kazakhstan reports. The criminal group consisted of Kazakhmys employees: internal control department employee, plant security, dispatchers, loaders and gate house personnel. The group was controlled by the family of Gaukhar Moldabergenova, 47, and Serikkhan Moldabergenov, 49. They were sentenced to six and five years in standard regime penal colony, correspondingly. As per the case files, the criminals were stealing copper out of finished goods stores by transporting it in wagons and selling it to various companies under forged documents for 3 years from 2007 to 2010. The damage is estimated at around $1 million.