Former Kyzylzhar president Grigory Loriya has been placed on an interstate wanted list in connection with an investigation into alleged embezzlement of public money and tax evasion involving more than 414 million tenge (approximately $924,000). Loriya is also the father of David Loriya, the former general secretary of the Kazakhstan Football Federation. The case was reported by Fergana, citing Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency.
Investigators say the Petropavl-based club received 1.7 billion tenge (around $3.8 million) from the regional budget in 2023. They suspect that Loriya, the club’s former chief accountant and other individuals used fictitious financial documents to transfer funds to personal accounts without justification.
The authorities also allege that those involved submitted inaccurate accounting and tax information, understating employees’ pay, payroll expenditure and the organisation’s total annual income. These allegations remain under investigation; no conviction of Grigory Loriya is reported in the agency’s announcement.
A wanted-person case concerning the 72-year-old was registered on 7 November. Investigators say he did not attend a summons for questioning by the North Kazakhstan Region economic investigations department and also missed a court hearing regarding a possible arrest order in his absence.
Loriya headed Kyzylzhar from 2014 until March 2024. Prosecutors first disclosed an investigation into alleged misuse of the club’s budget funds in November 2024. In January 2026, former Kyzylzhar chief accountant Olga Zamelatskaya was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for misappropriation of entrusted property and tax evasion. The court ordered recovery of approximately 367 million tenge (about $819,000), including compensation and state fees. Loriya’s case is being handled separately.
The case comes against the backdrop of the club’s recent privatisation. Businessman Sergei Kan became Kyzylzhar’s investor in November 2025, when a separate legal entity was set up to manage the team. Despite the change of ownership, regional authorities earmarked roughly 5.5 billion tenge (about $12.3 million) in public financing for 2026–2028, with the stated aim of gradually reducing that support.
Kan was initially expected to invest at least 1 billion tenge ($2.2 million) a year. After reports of payment difficulties and debts to suppliers in February 2026, officials said he intended to raise his annual contribution to 1.5 billion tenge (about $3.3 million).
David Loriya served as secretary general of the Kazakhstan Football Federation from April 2025 until June 2026, when he resigned citing disagreements about the future development of the game. He subsequently became general director of Astana-based Zhenis.