A suspect accused of orchestrating the embezzlement of 2.5 billion tenge (about $5.34 million) in public procurement funds has been extradited from Vietnam to Kazakhstan.

Investigators allege that the suspect worked with the former director of the Center for Forensic Examinations under Kazakhstan's Ministry of Justice, the head of its public procurement department, and executives of two private companies to siphon off state funds, The Caspian Post reports via Kazinform.

According to the investigation, the group inflated the cost of equipment by three times and used fictitious commercial bids to secure government procurement contracts, causing billions of tenge in losses to the state budget.

The remaining defendants in the case were previously convicted and sentenced to between three and eight years in prison, with their assets confiscated.

The organizer was placed on an international wanted list in March 2025. He was detained in Vietnam earlier this year and later extradited to Kazakhstan through a joint operation involving the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM), the National Central Bureau of Interpol, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.