The Anti-Corruption Service of Kazakhstan continues to work to return to the country the money stolen by the relatives of the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, including his nephew, businessman Kairat Satybaldy.
According to the department, a pre-trial investigation against Kairat Satybaldy and other persons on the facts of embezzlement of funds of the national telecom operator – Kazakhtelecom Joint-Stock Company and Transport Service Center Joint-Stock Company on an especially large scale.
“Five suspects are involved in the case, one of them is in custody, and two are under house arrest. During the investigation, illegally acquired assets and funds of the defendants totaling over $500 million were returned to the state. The search for other illegal assets of the accused continues actively,” the Anti-Corruption Agency noted.
The anti-corruption activists also added that in Kazakhstan and abroad, real estate, cars, and funds belonging to Kairat Satybaldy and other defendants totaling more than $900 million have been additionally discovered and will soon be returned to the state.
The department also clarified that additional criminal cases were initiated against Nazarbayev’s nephew on the facts of tax and customs evasion, and legalization of illegal income.
Recall, as ACCA has already reported, Kairat Satybaldy was detained on March 13 this year at the Almaty airport when he tried to escape to Dubai. He was detained on suspicion of abuse of office and embezzlement of Kazakhtelecom’s funds on an especially large scale.
Kairat Satybaldy is included in the ranking of the 50 most influential businessmen in Kazakhstan, as well as in the ranking of the 50 richest businessmen in Kazakhstan according to Forbes. As of May 2018, his fortune was estimated at $163 million.
Satybaldy is one of the main shareholders in Kaspi.kz joint-stock company (30%), through which he owns a stake in Kaspi Bank. Through another company, Alatau Capital Invest, he has a stake in Kazakhtelecom JSC. He also owns the companies Amir LTD, Dunie Corporation, Dunie-Kuzet, and Dunie-Agro.
In addition, he is an independent director of Allur Group of Companies JSC (the largest auto importer in the republic) and president of the International Association of Traditional Sports of the Turkic Peoples.
According to some Kazakhstani experts, the detention of Satybalda is most likely connected with the January riots, and the accusation of embezzlement is just a pretext. It should be noted that according to the official version of the authorities, foreign extremists and terrorists, including religious ones, were seen in the riots. And Kairat Satybaldy was seen more than once in connection with them.
On March 16, corruption fighters also detained the ex-wife of Nazarbayev’s nephew Gulmira Satybaldy. She is suspected of embezzling more than $1.5 million of budget funds in 2021, as well as raiding.
In July, the Anti-Corruption Agency reported that it was possible to return part of the money stolen by Nursultan Nazarbayev’s relatives Kairat and Gulmira Satybaldy, as well as Kairat Boranbaev, whose daughter Alima Boranbaeva was married to the late grandson of the ex-president Aisultan Rakhat, as well as the heads of the Operator ROP”, originally owned by Nazarbayev’s daughter.
“At the moment, the measures taken by the investigation bodies have reimbursed about $475 million, incl. by return from foreign jurisdictions. For example, in a case investigated by the Anti-Corruption Service, the defendants voluntarily returned over $170 million from Luxembourg,” the agency said.
