Tengrinews.kz - A court in Shymkent has ordered a Greek citizen to pay 31 million tenge for an unknown debt, citing vera.kz.
Tengrinews.kz - A court in Shymkent has ordered a Greek citizen to pay 31 million tenge for an unknown debt, citing vera.kz.
Ksenia Kalpakidu arrived in Kazakhstan in mid-November to claim her inheritance after her father's death. After processing the documents, she planned to return to Greece, but just before her flight, she was informed by a bailiff that she was now banned from leaving the country because she allegedly owed 31 million tenge to an unfamiliar person.
"It turned out that there was a court hearing on October 27, and I was declared a debtor. Allegedly, I borrowed 31 million from someone named Eshtayev in Astana in 2022. But there are no receipts. Judge Boribekov sentenced me based on something unclear," Ksenia Kalpakidu told the publication.
Ksenia has lived in Greece since 1995 and has not been to Kazakhstan since then. On November 18 of last year, she claimed her inheritance, received the documents the next day, and on December 12, she learned that all her inheritance was seized due to the debt to someone she did not know. Now, she cannot leave the country, and her visa is about to expire.
The first-instance court was held in a simplified procedure and without the participation of the parties, although the debt amount makes such a process inappropriate, lawyers say. Ksenia was even unable to present her passport with the border control stamps showing her border crossings. Her appeal was also rejected due to the expiration of the submission deadline.
"Some resident of the Turkestan region, wishing to obtain the inheritance of a Greek citizen for free and hoping no one would come for the inheritance, sought the help of a judge. These actions could be considered as theft of someone else's property through abuse of office. From a human perspective, this is not a violation of the law; it is mockery of the law," said lawyer Igor Balaboykin.
The Greek citizen has already sought assistance from her country's embassy. Additionally, she and her lawyer have the right to file a complaint with law enforcement about holding the officials responsible for the situation.