Astana announces verdict in case against Kairat Satybaldynephew of the ex-president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. He and four other people were found guilty on charges of embezzlement and causing property damage to two companies. The court sentenced Satybaldy to six years in prison with confiscation of property, a presentation to the president on the deprivation of his state awards and the rank of major general of the KNB, as well as a ban on holding positions in the civil service for 10 years.
The verdict was read out by Nurlan Bayakhmetov, judge of the Baikonyr district of Astana. He said that the court found the defendants guilty of embezzling more than 28 billion tenge from the Transport Service Center company and causing material damage in the amount of more than 12 billion tenge to the Kazakhtelecom company.
Live broadcast of the announcement of the verdict in the case against Kairat Satybaldy on September 26, 2022:
The defendants in this case, in addition to Satybalda, also included Marat Mukhamedzhanuly, chairman of the board of directors of the CTS, Gaini Beketov, president of this company, director of the corporate business of Kazakhtelecom Leonid Muravyov, and sportsman Chingiz Konarbayev.
The judge stated that “in the period from 2018 to 2021, Satybaldyuly organized the theft of funds from the Transport Service Center”, and from “2018 to 2022, he organized the infliction of property damage” to Kazakhtelecom.
“The court takes into account that Satybaldyuly, who led the perpetrators, played a more active role in the commission of these crimes,” the judge said, noting that for this reason he saw “no grounds for imposing a suspended sentence.”
The court sentenced Satybaldy to six years in a medium-security institution with confiscation of property and banned him from holding positions in the state apparatus, national holdings and companies in the quasi-public sector for 10 years. The court also decided to send a submission to the president on depriving him of the rank of major general of the national security agencies and the Kurmet and Parasat orders.
The court upheld the measure of restraint in the form of detention pending the entry into force of the sentence. He also decided to set off Satybaldy’s time in custody from March 13, 2022, at the rate of a day of detention for one and a half days of serving a sentence.
The rest of the defendants in this case received suspended sentences. Beketov and Mukhamedzhanuly – six years, Muravyov and Konarbaev – two and a half years each. The judge stated that he came to the conclusion “about their possible correction.”
The court decided to recover compensation from the victims – 58 thousand tenge each and the cost of a forensic examination in the amount of 841 tenge from each defendant.
Explaining the judicial act, Bayakhmetov said that the parties signed a procedural agreement, therefore, according to the law, the sentence imposed is half that provided for by the criminal code – part 4 of article 189 (“Assignment or embezzlement of entrusted property of others”) involves imprisonment for up to 12 years.
Judge Bayakhmetov added that the court took into account “sincere remorse for the deed, compensation for material damage, the presence of minor children and active contribution to the disclosure of a criminal offense” as mitigating circumstances.
The defendants said they understood the verdict. By law, the parties have 15 days to appeal.
The judge did not answer the questions of journalists, who were forbidden to take photos and videos throughout the entire process: cameras were allowed into the courtroom only at the time of the announcement of the verdict. With the words “We do not have a press service,” the judge left the hall.
How was the trial?
Judge Bayakhmetov supported all the demands put forward by the prosecutor at the previous meeting.
Then Satybaldy confirmed in court that he supported the procedural agreement. “Dear court, everything that the prosecutor said, everything that is in the procedural agreement, I have nothing to add to this,” Satybaldy said.
Former President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s nephew Kairat Satybaldy was arrested in March. He was charged under the articles “Causing property damage by deceit or breach of trust” and “Assignment or embezzlement, that is, theft of someone else’s property entrusted to the guilty.”
On the completion of the pre-trial investigation of the case Anti-Corruption Service of Kazakhstan reported on August 24. The agency then stated that “in the course of the investigation, illegally acquired assets and funds of the defendants totaling over 240 billion tenge, or more than 500 million US dollars, were returned to the state.”
It was also reported that in relation to Satybalda, cases “on the facts of tax and customs evasion, legalization of criminal proceeds” are being additionally investigated.
The trial began on 16 September. On September 20, the injured party, Kazakhtelecom and Transport Service Center, proposed to reach a mediation agreement. It was stated that Kairat Satybaldy compensated the damage to the companies Kazakhtelecom and the Transport Service Center – 12 billion tenge and 28 billion tenge, respectively.
Satybaldy himself kept silent at that meeting. The lawyers for the injured party stated that he “admitted” his guilt.
centralasia.media, 09/26/2022, “Nazarbayev’s nephew Kairat Satybaldy was sentenced to six years in prison”: In court, Kairat Satybaldy pleaded guilty to the crime he was accused of, compensated for the damage of 12 billion tenge ($25.1 million) to Kazakhtelecom and entered into a mediation agreement with this company, as well as with Transport Service Center JSC. — Inset K.ru
September 21 Transport Service Center withdrew his signature to the agreement on the settlement of the dispute and reconciliation of the parties in the order of judicial mediation. The parties reportedly agreed to a new mediation agreement.
Some lawyers stated that Satybaldy’s mediation agreement was illegitimate, noting, in particular, that he was charged with embezzlement of funds on an especially large scale.
On September 25, the Anti-Corruption Service of Kazakhstan reported that put Kemal Efendi on the wanted list, born in 1983, accomplice of Kairat Satybaldy. He is charged with tax evasion, legalization of money and other property obtained by criminal means.
azattyq-ruhy.kz, 09/25/2022, “Kairat Satybaldyuly’s accomplice named”: “The Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan continues the pre-trial investigation against Kairat Satybaldyuly and other persons on the facts of tax evasion, as well as the legalization (laundering) of money and other property obtained by criminal means. During the investigation, a special trustee of Satybaldyuly was identified – a citizen of Kazakhstan, Efendi Kemal, born in 1983, who is the founder and director of a number of commercial enterprises,” the report says.
Antikor specified that Efendi’s role was to “resolve issues” in the customs area, legalization (laundering) of money and other property obtained by criminal means. To do this, Satybaldyuly gave him a power of attorney to withdraw money from the account. For example, in just one episode, Efendi cashed 37 billion tenge and 62 million US dollars from Satybaldyuly’s personal account for 3 days of July and August 2018.
“Since February 2022, Efendi has been hiding outside of Kazakhstan and avoiding appearing at the criminal prosecution body. He is suspected of legalizing money and other property received, etc. His illegal acts are qualified under article 218, part 3, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and he is put on the wanted list,” the department noted. — Inset K.ru
Nazarbayev’s nephew was included in the list of the country’s most influential businessmen according to Forbes Kazakhstan.
In 2021, Azattyk, in his investigation, said that, according to Luxembourg LBRKairat Satybaldy is the sole founder of the offshore company Skyline Investment Company SA In 2016, Satybaldy through his company Alatau Capital Invest has gained less than 4 percent of the shares of Kazakhtelecom, follows from information in open sources.
Arrests of relatives of the ex-president, as well as the resignation of family members from high positions, began in the country after the January events in early 2022, the bloodshed that resulted in mass protests that swept across the country. What is happening around the Nazarbayev clan is considered by Kazakh observers as signs of weakening.