One of the richest and most influential businessmen of Kazakhstan, Kairat Satybaldy, who is the nephew of the former President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was brought to trial on charges of embezzlement of the funds of the National Telecom Operator (Kazakhtelecom JSC) and Center for Transport Service JSC on a large scale.
As ACCA has already reported, Kairat Satybaldy was detained by employees of the Anti-Corruption Agency in the first half of March this year. And in early April, anti-corruption fighters also detained the ex-wife of the businessman, Gulmira Satybaldy, on suspicion of embezzling budget funds on an especially large scale in 2021 – over $1.5 million.
The trial of Gulmira Satybaldy hasn’t yet begun, but her ex-husband is already in the dock. The first court session in this high-profile case took place on September 16, and the first trial was on September 20. The fate of judging Nazarbayev’s nephew fell to the judge of the District Court of Baikonur No. 2, Nurlan Bayakhmetov.
It should be noted that all the defendants in this criminal case (and in addition to Kairat Satybaldy, Leonid Muravyov, Chingiz Konyrbaev, Gaini Beketov and Marat Mukhametzhanuly were also in the dock) were present at the meetings virtually. Physically, Kairat Satybaldy is in the capital’s pre-trial detention center No. 166/1.
It should also be emphasized that the process is open, but not everyone can attend it: the press service of the court distributed a link to the online meeting only among accredited journalists. At the same time, judge Bayakhmetov, at the request of the defendants’ lawyers, prohibited audio and video recording of the process.
However, the main intrigue of this high-profile case was revealed only after the speech of the representatives of the injured party. In particular, they filed a motion to leave a civil claim for damages without consideration.
As the injured party explained, back on September 8, Kairat Satybaldy and Kazakhtelecom JSC entered into a mediation agreement, according to which Nazarbayev’s nephew pleaded guilty and compensated for the damage in the amount of $25 million.
By the way, the rest of the defendants also fully admitted their guilt and also entered into a mediation agreement and repented of their deeds.
In addition, the defendants also compensated for the damage caused to Center for Transport Service JSC in the amount of more than $58 million.
However, there were no petitions from both companies to stop the criminal prosecution of the defendants in view of the reconciliation of the parties. Consequently, Nazarbayev’s nephew may not escape criminal punishment. And according to the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, for these crimes, the accused can face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
It’s worth recalling that earlier the Anti-Corruption Agency, commenting on this criminal case, reported that in the course of its investigation, illegally acquired assets and funds of the defendants totaling over $500 million were returned to the state.
The Agency also clarifies that real estate, cars and funds belonging to Kairat Satybaldy and other defendants totaling more than $900 million have been additionally determined in Kazakhstan and abroad and will soon be returned to the state.
The department also added that additional criminal cases were initiated against Nazarbayev’s nephew on the facts of tax and customs evasion, legalization of criminal proceeds.
