Suitcases with dollars in a luxury house: the KNB published new materials on the Mаssimоv case.

The KNB reported that the former chairman of the committee is suspected of receiving million dollar bribes from foreign citizens

NUR-SULTAN, March 10 – Sputnik. The investigation into the case of the former head of the KNB of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, has established numerous signs  corruption.

© Photo: Press service of the KNB of Kazakhstan

According to the press service of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, the criminal investigation on suspicion of Massimov and other persons of treason, preparation for a violent seizure of power and abuse of power is ongoing.

The committee reported that along with this, during the investigation, numerous signs of corruption were established in Massimov’s actions.

The KNB reports: “The facts of illegal receipt of real estate, expensive gifts, including cultural values, significant funds from representatives of the domestic business community and foreign entities have been documented. In particular, an investigation is underway into the fact that Massimov as chairman of the KNB received a bribe in the amount of $2 million from representatives of a foreign state under one of the closed contracts.”

The committee reported that the money received from Hong Kong was transferred to the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

© Photo: Press service of the KNB of Kazakhstan

An investigation has also been launched into the fact that Karim Massimov during his tenure as prime minister received an elite guesthouse and a land plot in the capital worth about 2.5 billion tenge from one of the business structures.

After Massimov was arrested in January 2022, $17.2 million in cash was seized from this guest house, as well as numerous luxury items – luxury watches, gold bars, antiques and much more.

© Photo: Press service of the KNB of Kazakhstan

In addition, his 11 expensive business class cars were confiscated.

© Photo: Press service of the KNB of Kazakhstan

The KNB also reported that property was seized – two luxury apartments in Nur-Sultan, two apartments and a mansion in Almaty, as well as a 1-hectare land plot on the lake in the Shchuchinsko-Borovsk resort area.

Antiques confiscated in Massimov’s guest house.
© Photo: Press service of the KNB of Kazakhstan

$5.1 million was confiscated and arrested from Mаssimоv’s “close ties”.

Elite watches confiscated in Massimov’s guest house.
© Photo: Press service of the KNB of Kazakhstan

At the same time, work was organized to search for, arrest and return to Kazakhstan even larger funds illegally withdrawn by Massimov and his entourage to accounts in foreign banks. Active investigative measures are being carried out based on all this facts.

Recall that Karim Massimov was removed from the post of head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan on January 6 after mass riots. On January 8, it became known about his arrest. It was also reported about the arrest of two of his deputies – Anuar Sadykulov (Head of the Special Purpose Service “A”) and Daulet Yergozhin.

Earlier it was reported that the criminal case is being investigated on the signs of crimes under three articles of the Criminal Code. In addition to treason and actions aimed at forcibly seizing power or forcibly changing the constitutional order of Kazakhstan, the suspects are charged with “exceeding power” in order to gain benefits and advantages for themselves or other persons or organizations, or to harm other persons or organizations. The case was given the status “Top Secret”.

Another of the deputies – the nephew of the ex-president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev Samat Abish was fired.

On February 7, the first deputy director of the Special Purpose Service “A” of the KNB and the head of the Center for this service were detained. They are suspected of abuse of power. On February 17, it became known that the ex-head of the department of the KNB of Almaty was also under investigation.

Kazakhstan: Ex-head of the National Security Committee is accused of accepting a bribe of $2 million

For the first time since the arrest of its head Karim Mаsimоv, the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan has provided some details of the investigation.

As ACCA has already reported, the Chairman of the NSC, Karim Mаsimоv, was arrested on January 8 on suspicion of high treason. After the end of the January riots, personnel changes took place in almost all law enforcement structures of Kazakhstan, and some of the high-ranking employees were arrested, others committed suicide.

As for Karim Mаsimоv, the authorities remained stubbornly silent about the reasons for his detention. And now some details of his criminal case have become known.

According to the press service of the NSC, in addition to treason, preparations for a violent seizure of power and abuse of office, their former chief is also suspected of committing corruption crimes.

“In particular, an investigation is underway into the fact that Mаsimоv received a bribe in the amount of $2 million from representatives of a foreign state under one of the closed contracts as Chairman of the NSC. The return of these funds from Hong Kong to the National Bank of Kazakhstan was ensured. An investigation has also been launched into the fact that Mаsimоv received an elite guest house and a land plot in the capital worth about $5 million from one of the business structures during his tenure as Prime Minister. After Masimov was detained, in January 2022, $17.2 million in cash was confiscated from this guest house, as well as numerous luxury items: luxury watches, gold bars, antiques, etc.,” the report says.

The Department also added that 11 expensive business-class cars belonging to him were confiscated from Mаsimоv.

“His property has been seized – two luxury apartments in the city of Nur-Sultan, two apartments and a mansion in the city of Almaty, as well as a land plot of 1 hectare on the shore of the lake in Shuchinsk-Borovoe resort area. $5.1 million was confiscated and arrested from Mаsimоv’s inner circle,” the NSC added.

At the same time, as noted in the message, this is not all the money that Mаsimоv and his entourage took possession of during his work in high-ranking positions. Now the investigative group, together with the authorized state bodies, is working on the search, arrest and return to Kazakhstan of even larger funds illegally withdrawn from Kazakhstan to accounts in foreign banks.

“The facts of illegal receipt of real estate, expensive gifts, including cultural values, significant funds from representatives of the domestic business community and foreign entities have also been documented. On all these facts, active investigative and operational measures are being carried out,” the Department concluded.

Mаsimоv is suspect of taking a bribe from representatives of a foreign state

The press service of the KNB said on Thursday, that the former chairman of the National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan, Karim Mаsimоv, is suspected of receiving two million dollars from representatives of a foreign state under one of the closed contracts.

The Thursday report said: “During the investigation, numerous evidences of corruption were figured out in Massimovs actions. Particularly, an investigation is underway into the fact receiving Massimov as chairman of the KNB a bribe in the amount of 2 million US dollars from representatives of a foreign state under one of the closed contracts”.

According to the KNB, “the refund from Hong Kong to the National Bank of Kazakhstan has been guaranteed”.

Also, in a message published on the site of the special service, says that an investigation launched “on the fact that Massimov received” during his service as prime minister “an elite guest house and a stead in the capital worth about 2.5 billion tenge from one of the business structures”.

According to the special service, in this guest house, after the detention of the former head of the KNB in ​​January, among others, 17.2 million dollars in cash and gold bars were seized. The department’s statement claims that 11 “expensive business class cars” belonging to Mаsimоv were also seized, it also reports the arrest of two elite apartments in the capital and two apartments and a mansion in Almaty, as well as a land plot on the lake in the Shchuchinsko-Borovskaya resort area in Akmola region.

The KNB claims: “At the same time, work has been organized to search for, arrest and return to Kazakhstan even larger funds illegally withdrawn by Massimov and his entourage to accounts in foreign banks”. According to the special service, 5.1 million US dollars were confiscated and arrested from Mаsimоv’s close ties.

According to Mаsimоv’s support group, the KNB published investigation data against the backdrop of the expiration of the term of arrest and the lack of information about his current status.

Karim Massimov considered one of the most influential figures in the country. He twice served as the head of the government of Kazakhstan – from 2007 to 2012 and from April 2014 until his appointment as head of the KNB in ​​September 2016.

Karim Massimov, a long ally of the country’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was removed from his post as head of the security service on January 5, on the same day Nazarbayev lost his post as chairman of the country’s Security Council. Mаsimоv arrested soon after attending a meeting of the Security Council at the height of protests that escalated into riots in a number of cities. Two days later, the KNB announced that on January 6 it launched a pre-trial investigation against Massimov into treason. A few days later, the KNB announced the launch of an investigation against its former leader in the case of an attempt to seize of power.

Massimov’s support group denied the accusations against him as false and unfounded.

On suspicion of committing these crimes were also arrested the former vice chairman of the special service, the head of the elite special forces, Anuar Sadykulov (who was fired on the same day as Massimov) and the former vice chairman of the KNB, Major General Daulet Yergozhin.

Mr Tokmadi: Mr Mаsimоv’s people forced me to confess to killing Mr Tatishev and slander Mr Ablyazov.

“The now arrested members of the investigative-operational interdepartmental group (SOG) of the KNB/MVD/GP under the leadership of Karim Massimov committed a “legal vandalism” against me, my family, relatives, colleagues and friends,” it says in the Mr Tokmadi’s letter to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

KazTAG has posted about this before. Kazakh Telegraph Agency: https://kaztag.kz/ru/

https://kaztag.kz/ru/news-of-the-day/tokmadi-lyudi-masimova-zastavili-menya-priznatsya-v-ubiystve-tatisheva-i-ogovorit-ablyazova

Almaty. 9th of March. KazTAG – Imprisoned businessman Muratkhan Tokmadi pleaded not guilty and said that people from KNB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and the Prosecutor General’s Office (GP) led by the former chairman of the National Security Committee (KNB) Karim Massimov forced him to confess to the murder of banker Yerzhan Tatishev at the instruction of the banker Mukhtar Ablyazov.

“I, Muratkhan Tokmadi, am a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan with a 40 years sports, social and labor experience, worked my way up from a carpenter’s apprentice to the owner of two industrial glass processing plants and have been awarded a number of orders, medals, Altyn Sapa, titles and regalia – from the hero of the TV-Show “Success Factor” on the Khabar TV channel (a week before arrest) on July 12, 2017. Suddenly I turned into the most deprived of civil rights political prisoner in the country in front of my frightened wife and 10-year-old daughter. The now arrested members of the investigative-operational interdepartmental group (SOG) of the KNB/MVD/GP under the leadership of Karim Massimov committed a “legal vandalism” against me, my family, relatives, colleagues and friends,” it says in Mr Tokmadi’s letter to President Kassym- Jomart Tokayev, a copy of which is at the disposal of the editors of the KazTAG agency.

According to the businessman, the SOG itself was led by KNB Colonel Ruslan Iskakov.

The businessman said : “Еhey “convinced” me to sign procedural and cooperation agreements (PTAs) using threats, beatings, torture, moral and psychological pressure on my family, falsification of criminal cases 20-30 years ago against me, three criminal cases against my wife, arrests of my relatives, blocking businesses, arrest of property and family accounts, and many other methods. According to their conditions, I had to admit: 1) the fact of extortion from a former partner S.A. Nepropekin’s share/property, allegedly taking place in 2004-2005; 2) the murder of Yerzhan Tatishev ordered by Mukhtar Ablyazov. At the same time, “We don’t need Mr Nepropekin, this is only to level out the political background of your arrest. We don’t need you either – we only need MA”.

As Tokmadi noted, in response to this “offer”, he “convinced Mr Iskakov to let him undergo a polygraph test to record that he never knew, never met, did not speak on the phone with MA, and never had anything to do with criminal cases 20-30 years ago.”

Businessman emphasized that: “In order to “convince” me to sign the PTAs, in addition to torture, I was placed in the psychiatric department of the KNB hospital in Almaty with a full set of “psychotropic therapy”. After four months in this “regime”, as well as after threats “to put my wife in jail for 15 years, and send my younger children to an orphanage” – on November 18, 2017, I was forced to sign a PTAs. On March 16, 2018, the judge Taraza M. Tlepov, announcing the verdict, said: “Your PTAs are in the case, they will come into force after the sentence to the guilty person.” Mr Ablyazov was sentenced on November 27, 2018. A year later, in November 2019, in response to the family’s repeated appeals about the application of the PTAs, namely their main point – “the imposition of a more light punishment than provided for this crime”, the prosecutor of the Zhambyl region Mr Kusainov Zh.K. said: “The sentenced period is already minimal,” thereby confirming our initial fears: the procedural agreement was a lie!”.

He noted that this is confirmed by further responses from the Prosecutor General’s Office to his wife in response to her four letters addressed to Mr Tokayev.

The businessman said: “After her another letter in December 2020, the GP petitioned to reduce my sentence by only six months, and the Zhezkazgan court in April 2021 satisfied this minimum, thereby leaving me the minimum term of 10 years and again violating the main condition of the signed PTAs! On November 24, 2021, at the first short-term date in 5 years, my wife said with fear: “The KNB told me that if you don’t keep silent even in solitary confinement, you will never leave! He didn’t calm down in SI-18, the hell of the camp couldn’t calm him down, then what to expect from him at freedom?!”. The administration of institution 159/25 Zhezkazgan ignored all my appeals, for trying to send letters to you I was twice sent to a punishment cell for a week, and letters home, to state bodies, to deputies were blocked. Therefore, during the first long date in five years in February this year, me and my wife decided to contact you, Mr. President, through this open letter,”.

According to him, he has been serving a sentence for five years for a crime he did not commit.

Mr Tokmadi concluded: “This whole story, which caused so much suffering to me and my relatives, was invented and implemented by a group of the National Security Committee officers headed by Mr Massimov and supported by the State Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the courts. Their main goal was the extradition of Mukhtar Ablyazov, the main enemy of N. Nazarbayev. However, they failed, in January of this year they all were arrested, and the truth about their numerous crimes is gradually becoming known. Based on the foregoing, I ask you, the guarantor of the Constitution, to ensure the triumph of justice and legality, to review my case taking into account the above and previously sent to you factors, punish the guilty, to restore my honor and dignity and to return my lawful freedom! “Шыншыдық пен әділет – әр адамға қажет қасиет!”.

A copy of Mr Tokmadi’s letter was provided to KazTAG by his wife.

Agency editorial office offer the authorized bodies competent to comment on the described situation to consider this publication as an official request for comments regarding the information provided by Mr Tokmadi.

Photo source: Collage KazTAG

Raider funnel Jusan Bank

The Jusan Bank takeover scheme was mentioned in a public statement by Anatoly Balushkin, the disgraced owner of the BIPEK Auto-Asia Auto group of companies, addressed to the head of state with a demand to bring to justice the Masimovs, Mamins and Ergozhins, who were behind the aggressive actions to take this production holding.

How the bank pumped up its top management with Massimov’s chekists, who were squeezing out illiquid assets through the country, how they, in collaboration with the leadership of Kazakhtelecom, caused damage to the state for 26 billion tenge, and how they prepared for a coup d’état in January 2022, including trying to take under control objectionable media.

The assumption of Vedomosti Kazakhstan about the imminent appointment of the ex-head of the National Bank Daniyar Akishev as the chairman of the board of Jusan Bank was recently confirmed by information on this topic, distributed by Telegram channels close to the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

WE DO NOT NEED SUCH BANKING

According to them, this appointment will take place in the near future. But already now, according to unofficial data, permutations have begun in the board of Jusan Bank.

Surely, not only its current head Aibek Kaiyp, who is the nephew of the disgraced ex-deputy chairman of the KNB Daulet Yergozhin, will leave his post, but also one of his deputies along with managing directors.

The bank itself has not yet officially confirmed this information. Also its audited financial statements for 2020 has not been published.

How and with whom Mr. Akishev will rake the Augean stables of Jusan Bank, and whether the new team of top managers will be able to submit the same financial statements for 2020, it’s hard to say for sure right now.

But exactly that the first thing they will have to undertake is a radical restructuring of the raider banking business model used by the current management team of Mr. Kaiyp.

Because otherwise, Jusan Bank will face mass arrests of its managers like during the nationalization of BTA Bank. And the financial regulator will have to revoke the license and liquidate the business of the Jusan group, based not on the classic loyal attitude of bankers to their clients, bringing them money and profits, but on aggressive expansion to takeover the property of borrowers with their subsequent complete bankruptcy.

In the market after such a ‘cleansing’, usually, nobody needs illiquid assets in the form of old buildings of shopping centers, outdated agricultural machinery and rights to use land somewhere in our endless steppes. Bankrupt borrowers, with the assistance of the prosecution authorities acting on behalf of Jusan Bank, are also obliged by court decision to pay state duty for legal expenses, although it is clear to everyone that nothing will actually go to the treasury, and the state in fact suffers significant financial damage.

This scheme of senseless from the point of view of normal banking was described in most detail in court decisions, where prosecutors acted as plaintiffs in the interests of Jusan Bank. It was also mentioned in a public statement by Anatoly Balushkin, the disgraced owner of the BIPEK Auto-Asia Auto group of companies, addressed to the head of state with a demand to bring to justice the Masimovs, Mamins and Ergozhins, who were behind the aggressive actions to take this production holding.


In the reality of civilized banking, one of the key pillars of this business is careful work with each problem borrower in order to he does not leave the market, but continues to pay real money on his debts. Even if he is able to pay at least half of the loan, then this is also beneficial for the bank, because he needs to create fewer provisions for the rest.

The same is true with collateral, which has different liquidity. It is one thing to have a popular pub in Almaty with a stable flow of customers and cash receipts, a trendy shopping and entertainment center in the same place. And quite different is the rights to land plots somewhere in the Akmola region, worn-out agricultural machinery that needs to be looked after and protected, old cheap buildings of the capital’s malls “Jafar” and “Azhar”.

All this illiquid armada is of little interest to anyone, and just hanging ballast on a bank. That bank simply has no future, and even more so there is no backbone status.

VERIFIED ON YOURSELF

Even if its previously influential owner, together with other high-ranking patrons, managed to take the whole of our country as a pledge and completely capture its financial resources, Jusan Bank would still not become a backbone.

Because, who will go to a creditor who ruins his borrowers and clients? The money of national companies and the budgetary funds allocated for the salaries of chekists and other security officials will not help here. After all, it is nothing for a large bank, while it earns the main income in the real banking field, attracting deposits and cherishing its borrowers along with depositors.

If, however, the Jusan group seriously hoped to make money on the sale of illiquid land to the same foreign giants Tyson Foods and Valmont Industries, who were emphatically courted by ex-premier Askar Mamin at the suggestion of Yerkin Tatishev, the owner of Kusto Group, then such business style is not consistent with the status of a backbone bank.

Does this style of banking match to the status of a bankbone bank in the country?

Of course not! It’s just that Jusan Bank, after acquiring Tsesnabank as a result of a very suspicious transaction with massive support from the government and the National Bank, immediately began to hide behind such a status, having inherited it from its purchase. But in reality, the country’s leading bank, which has such a status, simply cannot behave like an ordinary temporary grabber, recruiting KNB employees to its staff to ‘solving’ issues with borrowers in a forceful style, taking everything they have and letting them go around the world of ruined entrepreneurs.

In addition, it is obvious that Jusan Bank acquired the status of backbone only after the purchase of ATF Bank last year, which also had many questions from analysts.

But does the Jusan Bank raider style of ‘communication’ with the media correspond to the backbone status and norms of civilized banking, as the editors of Vedomosti Kazakhstan have seen from their own experience?

Initially, the representative of the bank, a former diplomat who, according to unofficial information, owns real estate in Belgium, where his family lives, began openly extorting 15 million tenge from the editorial office. Then it was about 20 free compliment to Jusan Bank publications per year, or directed against competitors in the market.

Then a certain employee from the cell company Kcell appeared on the scene, in which the Jusan group acquired a significant stake (we will talk about this below). Without particularly introducing herself and not making personal contact, she bombarded the editorial office with PR messages about the cooperative activities of this tandem and persistently lured the editor of Vedomosti Kazakhstan to the Turkestan region under the pretext of holding events there dedicated to the installation of equipment for mobile communications of the 5G standard in that region.

Something similar was held there in December last year, but whether the 5G connection was actually launched there and whether it works today remains unknown. In any case, as far as the editors know, there was no particularly representative press tour to Turkestan, and coverage was limited to the publication of a Ksell press release in some media.

Thus, the representatives of the editorial office were simply going to be fraudulently lured to Turkestan, where they could facing ‘solving issues’ with them in a purely Masimov style: though provocation, through pressure and a knee, intimidating and bending over. Because Masimov’s people were preparing for a coup d’état in January 2022 and, as we will tell in the following materials, they desperately needed their own pocket media, especially among those who, like Vedomosti Kazakhstan, had long stood in the position of supporting the current President Tokayev and his team.

What is noteworthy, when asked about the affiliation of the mobile operator with Jusan Bank, the representative of Kcell hard emphasized that there was no connection between them.

Meanwhile, there are more and more facts confirming not only the direct connection between Kcell and Jusan Bank, but also their belonging to a single conglomerate controlled in fact by the ex-Chairman of the KNB Karim Masimov and his assistants with the formal owner represented by the Elbasy.

KEEP IT UP, MINORITIES!

Thanks to the activity of private investors, information has now become available that quite clearly confirms the participation of Kazakhtelecom, Kcell and Jusan Bank in an essentially fictitious deal to seize a large block of shares in a mobile operator by the Jusan group.

According to the Kazakh Association of Minority Shareholders (QAMS) and activist investor Bakht Niyazov, the latter turned to then Prosecutor General Gaziz Nurdauletov in late February. He sent a copy of his appeal to Almasadam Satkaliyev, chairman of the board of the NWF Samruk-Kazyna (the state holding owns 52.03% in the Kazakhtelecom national company) and Yerlan Koshanov, a member of its Board of Directors, who then led the presidential administration.

Mr. Niyazov turned to them in connection with what he believed was a egregious case of damage to the state, investors and citizens of Kazakhstan in the amount of at least 26 billion tenge as a result of a deal to sell a 24% stake in the mobile operator Kcell owned by Kazakhtelecom on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) on September 30 last year.

Then, according to him, at 9.22 am on the site of the stock exchange there was a message about the decision of the Board of Directors of Kazakhtelecom to selling this block of shares to a wide range of investors on KASE.

At 10:42 a.m., a similar message appeared, after which, within a few minutes after the announcement, all shares were sold. Two affiliated companies – Jusan Bank and Pioneer Technologies S.A. R. L., bought them for a couple.

Regarding the latter, we recall that a company with a similar name – Pioneer Capital Invest LLP, which is head of the Jusan group and based in Almaty, bought 100% of the shares of the Russian Asia-Pacific Bank in September last year. Two Russian banks, Promsvyazbank and Sovcombank, participated in those auctions as nominal participants, now faced to the most tough US sanctions with a complete freeze of American assets.

The first of them is led by Pyotr Fradkov, the son of the ex-director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, who served as head of the Russian government. Both of them are under personal US sanctions.

According to Mr. Niyazov, if Kazakhtelecom was really going to get the maximum profit from the sale of Kcell shares, then it is not clear why the public announcement of their sale was made a few minutes before trading with their volume of 55 billion tenge.

According to Mr. Niyazov, the circle of participants in the deal was specially limited so that only persons who knew about it in can took part in it. But for that, they had to accumulate the indicated significant amount in brokerage accounts in advance, which is impossible to do in a short time.

Further, after the sale of Kcell shares at an average selling price of 1,151 tenge, since October last year to the present day, their market value on KASE has risen to a level of 1,700 tenge. This means that the deal to sell a 24% stake in the mobile operator deprived Kazakhtelecom of profit of 26 billion tenge, or 549 tenge per share.

And because the key shareholder of Kazakhtelecom is the state represented by the NWF Samruk-Kazyna, it also suffered such significant damage.

As a result, Mr. Niyazov states that the share price was 14% below the exchange price two days before the deal, and 36% below the estimated value according to independent brokers.

In addition, during trading on the Freedom Finance Trading electronic platform, which provides up to 80% of brokerage services in the country, there was a technical error due to which ‘a huge number of investors could not take part in the auction and influence the pricing of the transaction’.

“I believe that this circumstance,” – Mr. Niyazov states, – “given the importance and size of the deal, could not have been caused by a random event and should be investigated by technical specialists based on the records on the platform’s servers.”

Recall that Russian Timur Turlov, who is a member of the Board of Directors of Kcell, controls the Freedom Finance group. That is why Mr. Niyazov’s suggestion of a non-random system failure on the platform owned by Freedom Finance is had a basis and could be the subject of law enforcement investigations.

Mr. Niyazov also informed the addressees of his statement that, in response to QAMS’s request to the Financial Market Regulation and Development Agency (ARRFR) regarding the consideration of transactions with Kcell shares as being concluded for manipulating the market and price, letter of On February 18 this year, from the financial regulator confirmed the worst assumptions.

ARRFR has identified more than 200 transactions of 11 entities and 2 individuals, for which there are grounds for recognition as made for the purpose of manipulation in the securities market. BUT at the same time, the financial regulator limited itself to drawing up protocols on administrative violations and sending them to the Specialized Interdistrict Administrative Court of Almaty. In this regard, Mr. Niyazov asks the Prosecutor General to rate the proportionality of the actions/inactions of the RRRFR in terms of qualifying the violations as administrative.

It is worth recalling in this regard that in his posts on social networks, Mr. Niyazov noted – “one of the leaders of this agency called himself a friend of Zhusan and advised to surrender in the process of unofficial communication”!

And just after the appearance of this information, Oleg Smolyakov, the first deputy chairman of the ARRFR, who worked at the National Bank under the supervision of Daniyar Akishev, who is now tipped to be the head of Jusan Bank, was recently dismissed. He will replace Aibek Kaiyp, who is the nephew of the arrested Daulet Yergozhin, who served as Karim Massimov’s deputy in the KNB. Let us also remind that Akishev and Smolyakov actively participated in a large-scale operation to prepare Tsesnabank for sale to the Jusan group. So if this tandem now appears in the board of Jusan Bank, then, as they say, the secret will become clear.

EITHER A BOOK OR A MANIFESTO OF A FAILED RULER

In conclusion, let us recall that last autumn Karim Massimov quite unexpectedly released the book ‘The Next Ruler of the World. Artificial Intelligence’, despite the fact that he had not previously been seen as a specialist in this field due to the lack of technical education.

According to him, he was inspired to write this book by the Elbasy, who, during his message to the people of Kazakhstan in October 2018, devoted a significant part of his speech to the need to implement artificial intelligence in the country. It is noteworthy that just at that time a deal was being prepared for the acquisition of Tsesnabank by the Jusan group, which purpose, apparently, included the acquisition of telecommunications companies as the basis for the large-scale implementation of artificial intelligence.

Coincidentally, Sergek video recording system cameras have become commonplace on the streets of our cities, providing round-the-clock monitoring of the movement of citizens. It is quite understandable that the KNB, which, when it was led by Karim Massimov, could not miss the chance to lead the development of electronic surveillance technologies in Kazakhstan, including relying on the resources of Kazakhtelecom and Kcell.

Another thing is that the author noted the contribution to the writing of the book by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan. And just this sheikh, the step-brother of the President of the UAE and the son of the founder of the country, is named in the investigation of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) as the head of the Group 42 artificial intelligence company. The latter owned a 3% stake in Jusan Technologies, which manages the Nazarbayev Fund conglomerate from London, and now from the United States through the efforts of Aslan Sarinzhipov, a member of Masimov’s team.

The problem is that the mentioned sheikh is one of the most powerful officials in the UAE, holding the influential position of the country’s national security adviser there, reporting directly to the chairman of the UAE’s Supreme National Security Council.

In addition to intelligence, the sheikh also oversees the most sensitive issues of the foreign policy of the Emirates, as well as the business operations of this state, which are not disclosed to the public.

What in reality, besides writing a book, Karim Massimov and his team, including the managers of the Jusan group, did in cooperation with such a high-ranking leader of the UAE, one can only guess how and why Jusan Bank was actually created, in whose top management were seen by the chekists. However, there can be no doubt that if necessary, such a partner could provide maximum support to Karim Massimov in seizing the highest power in Kazakhstan according to the scenario of the tragic January days.

To be continued

Zhanibek ABDRAKHMANOV, especially for Vedomosti Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan Billionaires ‘Named And Shamed’ In U.K. Parliament By Senior Politician As Corruption Sanctions Near

Kazakhstan-based billionaires worth over $14 billion are likely to be targets of new sanctions, says a leading member of the U.K. parliament. Labour MP for Barking Margaret Hodge told the house on Thursday evening that the U.K. needs to assume responsibility for turning a “blind eye” and helping the Kazakh regime “launder and spend its dirty money.”

Following fuel-price protests that swept Kazakhstan last month–leaving 225 dead, 4,500 injured and 10,000 arrested, and leading former president Nursultan Nazarbayev to finally leave the country–politicians have been debating the U.K.’s role in preserving the nation’s ruling regime. The wealth of Kazakhstan’s elite businessmen has now fallen under the spotlight, especially the role of financial crime enabled by London’s banks, legal services and the use of prime real estate as a store for ill-gotten gains. 

Billionaires Accused

In a damning speech drawing on historic allegations of wrongdoing, and protected from defamation claims from the billionaires by parliamentary privilege, Hodge called out a number of the country’s billionaires and best-known business figures. 

Timur Kulibaev and his wife Dinаra Nazarbayeva (Nazarbayev’s daughter), Hodge said, “Ha[ve] faced money laundering and bribery investigations” in non U.K. jurisdictions, adding that Kulibaev was worth $2.9 billion, according to Forbes, and owns at least $80 million of U.K. real estate. Kulibaev and Nazarbayeva denied the allegations and Swiss prosecutors dropped the case against Kulibaev in 2013.

Hodge accused Vladimir Kim–Kazakhstan’s richest person–of being a proxy owner of Kazakhmys plc, the first Kazakh company to list on the London Stock Exchange. A Global Witness report alleges the company is actually controlled by Nazarbayev. Kazakhmys plc board denied the allegations and told Global Witness that the company had undergone comprehensive due diligence procedures before the company listed in 2005.

Mining tycoons Alexander Machkevich and Patokh Chodiev from Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (ENRC) caught flak from Hodge, over a 2013 investigation from the U.K.’s serious fraud office that followed allegations of bribery to African political figures. The U.K.-based Law Society Gazette reported in June that the SFO had yet to bring any charges on ENRC who deny any wrongdoing. The investigation is ongoing.

And, finally, Hodge called out businessman Bulat Utemuratov over his role in the Nazarbayev regime as his former chief of staff. Utemuratov made his fortune in 2007 when Italian bank UniCredit purchased 92% of Kazakhstan’s ATF Bank for $2.1 billion.

Other tycoons known to Forbes readers were mentioned in the speech too, including Kairat Satybaldy, the mysterious former intelligence chief who was once a major shareholder of London listed fintech Kaspi. (Kaspi made billionaires of its major shareholders Mikhail Lomtadze and Vyacheslav Kim in October 2020.) Hodge describes Satybaldy as “enjoying significant wealth through offshore structures” as a “key playe[r] in Nazarbayev’s inner circle, involved in the current power struggle that is undermining peace and security.” A spokesperson for the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where Satybaldy is first deputy chairman, did not immediately respond to the allegation by email.

Nurali Aliyev, Nazarbayev’s grandson, was subject to a failed attempt by the U.K. authorities to use a so-called McMafia order to explain his ownership of a number of London properties, including one on London’s prestigious Billionaire’s Row.

Hodge cited Forbes’ estimated net worths for these Kazakh billionaires. In all, Forbes estimates the collective net worths of the tycoons called out by Hodge to be around $14 billion. Hodge concluded her speech by demanding the government commit more than just lip service to a new economic crime bill that would help enforcement agencies tackle corruption. “I ask the Minister whether he will consider the individuals I have named and impose sanctions on those who have stolen from their country, laundered their money here, used U.K. structures to hide their ill-gotten gains, used the golden visa route to gain entry to the U.K. or committed human rights abuses. Will he act now?”

Hodge’s statement comes as part of a larger shift in the U.K. to take on kleptocrats. Last week the London Times reported that U.S. officials were frustrated with the U.K. over its tolerance of dirty money arriving from former soviet states, claiming that it may hinder the ability to fully impose sanctions on Russian president Vladimir Putin over aggression on the Ukraine border.

A source in Washington told the Times: “Putin doesn’t hold his money abroad, it is all in the kleptocrats’ names and a hell of a lot of it is sitting in houses in Knightsbridge and Belgravia right under your government’s noses.”

​​Paul Massaro, an anti-corruption adviser to Congress, told Forbes: “It is high time that the U.K. begin purging the blood money infesting its system and it is heartening to see MP Hodge address this threat head on by calling for powerful sanctions against known kleptocrats. Naming and shaming works.”

Hodge is waiting to see if the government’s newly expanded Russian sanctions will target UK-based billionaires in the coming weeks.

A spokesperson for Timur Kulibaev and Dinаra Nazarbayeva did not immediately respond to the allegations.

A spokesperson for Alexander Machkevich and Patokh Chodiev did not immediately respond to the allegations.

A spokesperson for Vladimir Kim did not immediately respond to the allegations.

A spokesperson for Bulat Utemuratov did not immediately respond to the allegations.

David Dawkins

Margaret Hodge: “For too long we in Britain have turned a blind eye to a corrupt elite in Kazakhstan”…

For too long we in Britain have turned a blind eye to a corrupt elite in Kazakhstan that have stolen from their people to line their own pockets. Today in Parliament I named & shamed some of these kleptocrats and urged the Govt to take action by issuing sanctions against them.

Mansions, fights and trucking: how Karim Massimov’s son-in-law lives

As Adam Bol magazine wrote in 2014, Mr Kapenov’s opponents were sure that he was using his official position in the Kaztemirtrans company for personal gain: “He really took over the entire railcar market, and after he became vice president, the tariff rates for rail transportation went up”… In 2020, the editors of Open Media found out that since 2018 Mr Kapenov owned a plot of land with an area of ​​2900 square meters in Serebryany Bor in Moscow. There was also a mansion of 507 square meters, which the son-in-law of the former head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan sold for 1 billion rubles.

For more than a week the Kazakh public has been discussing the high-profile case of the former head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, who is suspected of treason. However, we offer a look at the career path of a no less ‘interesting’ person – the son-in-law of the former head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, Azamat Kapenov, who is married to his eldest daughter, Tamilla Karim.

Initially, Mr Kapenov’s path began rather non-trivially – he graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University with degrees in economics, management and law and the Kazakh Academy of Transport and Communications named after Tynyshbaev with a degree in organization of transportation, traffic and operation of transport.

After the university, then the future son-in-law of Mr Massimov, he decided to go to work by profession. Since 1996, Mr Kapenov has already held senior positions in various organizations; one of which was JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ).

However, he climbed the Olympus of leadership rather fast and for several years he has served as a Vice President of JSC Center for Transport Services, Deputy General Director of LLP Transport Holding of Kazakhstan, Vice President for Operations and Logistics of JSC Kaztemirtrans.

At the same time, the name of Mr Kapenov began to appear in the media, but by no means in the most favorable light.

For example, in 2009, Mr Kapenov was detained for a fight in the Almaty restaurant Beirut, the media wrote that the reason was a conflict with the famous producer Yeltinzhal Turganaliev.

Three years later, the newspapers again discussed the he scandal involving Mr Kapenov. He accused his ex-wife Adilya Kusherbayeva of stealing 150 thousand US dollars, but the accusation failed in court.

But all of the above incidents were purely personal. And the public’s interest was mostly aroused by his work in KTZ, or more precisely in the subsidiary company Kaztemirtrans, where Azamat Kapenov held the position of vice president for operations and logistics.

As Adam Bol magazine wrote, Mr Kapenov’s opponents were sure that he was using his official position in the Kaztemirtrans company for personal gain.

The opponents argued that he really took over the entire railcar market, and after he became vice-president, the tariff rates for rail transportation went up regardless the cargo specifications, weight, type of packaging.

In 2014, Inter Group Corporation LLP sent a letter to the then president of KTZ, Askar Mamin, in which there were direct accusations against Mr Kapenov due to a sharp increase in freight transportation tariffs for this company. Later, the Prosecutor General’s Office concluded that Kaztemirtrans illegally raised rates for some companies and at the same time significantly lowered them for others. The prosecutors wrote in their conclusion: “As a result of the activities of KTZ managers the amount of lost income due to illegal decisions of officials amounts to billions of tenge.”

It cannot be said that the events did not affect Mr Kapenov’s personal life. He had to change his place of residence and move to Moscow. Just there, fate again turned to him – he met the eldest daughter of the then Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov – Tamilla Karim. In 2015, they got married and soon, not just Azamat Kapenov, but the son-in-law of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, he got a new position – he became deputy general director of the Federal Freight Company and began to develop business in the CIS and neighboring states.

The ‘hype’ of Mr Massimov’s son-in-law did not end there. In 2020, the editorial board of Open Media found out that since 2018, Mr Kapenov owned a plot of land with an area of ​​2,900 square meters in Serebryany Bor in Moscow. There was also a mansion of 507 square meters, which the son-in-law of the former head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan sold for 1 billion rubles.

The court arrested the former head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan for two months

The former head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov arrested. He is suspected of treason, he is in pre-trial detention center. It is also reported on the detention of other persons, their names were not disclosed, – the report says. Earlier, the former adviser to the President of Kazakhstan Yermukhamet Yertysbayev called one of the reasons for the crisis in the republic – the betrayal of some high-ranking officials and law enforcement officers.

Previously wrote about this: News.ru, https://news.ru/

Orda.kz portal reported in his Telegram channel that by the decision of the investigating court of Nur-Sultan, the former head of the National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, arrested for two months. The man is suspected of treason.

The former head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov arrested. He is suspected of treason, he is in pre-trial detention center. It is also reported on the detention of other persons, their names were not disclosed, – the report says.

Previously reported that Mr Massimov arrested on suspicion of treason, it happened on January 8.

The KNB explained that on January 6 a pre-trial investigation into treason started (Article 175 part 1 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan). Mr Massimov is 56 years old. Since 2000, he has been working in the government structures of Kazakhstan as head of the Ministry of Transport, vice-premier, assistant to the President and Prime Minister. In 2016, he headed the KNB, removed from his position since the beginning of the riots.

Earlier, the former adviser to the President of Kazakhstan Yermukhamet Yertysbayev called one of the reasons for the crisis in the republic the betrayal of some high-ranking officials and law enforcement officers. He described the events taking place in the country as an attempt at a coup d’état and noted that it was impossible without betrayal in the highest echelons of power.

Margulan Seisembayev stated that Karim Massimov took away his business

Margulan Seisembayev stated that Karim Massimov took away his business.

Mr Seisembayev said: “And by the way, Karim Massimov, who was imprisoned, was the person who personally took away the bank from me. I didn’t talk about it before, I didn’t name anyone. But now I say it because he is no longer in a high position”.

Kazakh businessman Margulan Seisembayev, during an interview with the “Evening of a Labor Day” program, promised to reveal all the details of how the former head of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, took away the bank from him.

The program of Kyrgyz journalists was online, and the conversation with Mr Seisembayev lasted about 40 minutes. The businessman expressed his vision of what happened in Kazakhstan in early January, and emphasized that the authorities of Kazakhstan ‘have always disliked him’.

Margulan Seisembayev said that the former head of the National Security Committee, Karim Massimov, took away his business.

Watch the video https://aitube.kz/video?id=7a00f5f9-89c7-4dc4-8fc0-fba1c85ae594

Mr Seisembayev stated: “And by the way, Karim Massimov, who was imprisoned, was the person who personally took away the bank from me. I didn’t talk about it before, I didn’t name anyone. But now I say it because he is no longer in a high position.”

The businessman promised to write a separate post about how and who personally took part in taking away his property.

Recall that the former head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, was arrested for two months.