Sweeping the seven sins out of Kazakhstan’s higher state, business echelons

    By Charles van der Leeuw
    Last week has witnessed a rather odd coincidence of events concerning what is usually referred to as the “fight against corruption” but which in reality stretches much further and involves extortion, blackmail, misappropriation of state and/or government property and funds, embezzlement and a long list of other abuses. They are far fr om typical for Kazakhstan, and occur to varying levels virtually in all countries of the world.
    First, there was the rather unexpected arrest by French police of Mukhtar Ablyazov, in England already dubbed “fraudster of the century” – with the century hardly having begun. But it was to be followed by other developments. Soon after the arrest, news broke that the funds and assets of the former mayor of Almaty, Viktor Khrapunov, and his spouse Leyla had been frozen in Switzerland for the second time – along with those belonging to the former mayor of Atyrau and his brother. “Former Akim (Governor) of Atyrau oblast Bergey Ryskaliyev and his brother Amanzhan Ryskaliyev, former member of the parliament, are accused of major embezzlement of funds fr om the budget of Kazakhstan,” Tengrinews reported on the issue. “The brothers disappeared shortly after Bergey Ryskaliyev was released fr om his duties of the Akim.”
    Then, there is the affair of Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakhstan’s “presidential prodigal son-in-law” who, apart fr om being charged in a double murder case in Almaty, a single one in Beirut and a case of torture in Kazakhstan, also faces charges of having embezzled hundreds of millions in euro/US dollar. He is taking cover on Malta, wh ere local authorities have shown extreme reluctance to deliver him either to Kazakhstan or to Austria, wh ere a high court has declared the cases against Aliyev within its jurisdiction.
    But there is more on the rails. The latest target is Kagazy Plc, a London-listed Kazakh enterprise that recycles paper ahd cardboard. “Kazakhstan's Kagazy Plc obtained a London High Court order to freeze the assets of two of the company's former shareholders and directors, Baglan Zhunus and Maksat Arip, over a theft of $150 million,” Interfax reported on August 7. "According to the resolution of London High Court dated August 2, Kazakhstan Kagazy Plc has obtained a London High Court order to freeze the assets of two of the company's former shareholders and directors, Baglan Zhunus and Maksat Arip to recover funds misappropriated during 2005-2009," the agency quoted a company press release as reading. "Forensic analysis by the Board and their appointed advisors has discovered that a sum of approximately $150 million was extracted from the company and channelled into separate businesses outside of the Kazakhstan Kagazy Group,"
    Two days earlier, Interfax reported on another affair being tackled by authorities. “The Financial Police arrested the president of Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary, a national company in charge of Kazakhstan's space projects,” the agency wrote. Gabdullatifa Murzakulov is currently under home arrest for taking a bribe. He allegedly accepted $272,000 and 75.3 million tenge from Kulager LLP top manager to award a state contract for building a satellite assembly and testing center worth of 15 billion tenge. Kulager LLP CEO Egenbaev was also detained on bribery charges on August 3. SunkarKuzet director Asylbekov was arrested for assisting [in taking] the bribery.
    There must be hundreds of such cases in Kazakhstan alone. Worldwide, there could well be millions of them – though varying in size. What sets Kazakhstan apart from most countries in the world, though, is the fact that authorities (those on the right side of the law, that is) show a lot more tenacity in trying to get white-collar offences sorted out and eventually prosecuted. This attitude stands in sharp contrast to the leniency which most countries in the world display wh ere it comes to abuses of public and private funds, known under the common name white collar crime. It may not be enough wh ere Kazakhstan is concerned, and if critics insist that its judicial procedures could do with a lot of improvement the Kazakhstan should indeed take action in this domain. But it is a beginning – and not the worst possible one.