The general contractor for the reconstruction of Cholpon-Ata hippodrome for the 1st World Nomad Games in 2014, Erkinbek Mergenbaev, will remain in custody until March 16. The Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek made the decision. Lawyers intend to appeal it.
According to lawyers representing the interests of Erkinbek Mergenbaev, they filed a petition for the transfer of the businessman to the penal colony 47. He is being kept in detention center 1 now and needs constant medical supervision.
Erkinbek Mergenbaev is charged with deliberate overstating of the cost of construction by 10 million soms.
Earlier, Erkinbek Mergenbaev had already been prosecuted within the case on construction of the hippodrome. He was sentenced to six years in prison and has served 2 years and 6 months. Then he was transferred to a penal settlement. Erkinbek Mergenbaev was again detained in December 2018.
Previously, he was convicted of smuggling and evading customs duties. According to the Interior Ministry, in 2014 he imported plastic seats into the republic without paying fees to the budget. The damage, according to the investigators, amounted to more than 1,570,000 soms.
In 2014, the company of Erkinbek Mergenbaev received an order for the reconstruction of the hippodrome in Cholpon-Ata. He later blamed the state for refusing to pay for the work done.
