Kazakhstan: Another relative of Nazarbayev was detained
The Financial Monitoring Agency has detained a prominent Kazakh businessman Kairat Boranbayev.
As it became known to ACCA, on March 15, Boranbayev was summoned for interrogation to the Department of Economic Investigations in the city of Almaty. During the interrogation, he was charged with embezzlement of budgetary funds on a large scale. According to some reports, Boranbayev’s case is directly related to the case of Nazarbayev’s nephew, businessman Kairat Satybaldy, who was recently detained.
At the moment, Boranbayev is in a temporary detention center in Almaty. Searches are being carried out in houses, apartments and offices belonging to the businessman. The details of the detention were not disclosed, as well as the charges incriminated to Boranbayev.
It should be noted that Kairat Boranbayev is related to the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. His middle daughter, Alima Boranbayeva, was married to the late grandson of the ex-President, Aisultan Rakhat.
Kairat Boranbayev is a fairly well-known person in Kazakhstan. He is a McDonald’s franchisee in Kazakhstan and Belarus and is in the top 50 most influential businessmen in the country (5th place) and in the top 50 richest businessmen in Kazakhstan (14th place) according to Forbes.
According to the latest data, his fortune was estimated at $590 million. Boranbayev also owns Alex-Saryagash mineral water bottling company, Almaly company, Chemical petrochemical company, KazTurboRemont holding, RR2 company, which manages paid parking lots in Almaty, Fitnation fitness club chain, the hotel “Rahat Palace”, a 50% stake in Esentai Mall shopping and entertainment center and a 50% stake in Esentai Tower business center.
In addition, together with Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin and other partners, he owns the Karaganda pharmaceutical complex, which during the pandemic was filling the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine. Among other things, Kairat Boranbayev is the owner of Kairat football club in Almaty.
It’s worth noting that a few days ago the name of Kairat Boranbayev flashed in another scandal. He, along with Nazarbayev’s son-in-law Timur Kulibayev and oligarch Alexander Mashkevich, were summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Moldova, as they are suspected of blackmail. However, all three didn’t come for interrogation, and the Prosecutor’s Office of Moldova stated that they would seek their appearance by all legal means.
