Former Kazakh Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov has been charged with embezzlement.
Spokeswoman of the Qazybek District Court in central Qaraghandy Oblast, Aliya Zhosheva, told reporters on November 19 that Akhmetov had been placed under two-month pretrial house arrest and charged with "embezzlement and misuse of state budget in significant amounts."
Akhmetov, 56, a native of Qaraghandy region, served as prime minister between September 2012 and April 2014.
He was appointed defense minister in April but resigned last month.
Akhmetov's resignation was officially presented as "his own decision."
It came weeks after investigators detained the governor of the Qaraghandy region, Bauyrzhan Abdishev, the mayor of the city of Qaraghandy, Meiram Smagulov, and several other officials on corruption charges.
