Zafer Khalidi: From an unknown Turk to a figure in an international corruption scheme involving fugitive oligarch Elon Shor and the president of Kyrgyzstan
Turkish businessman Zafer Khalidi would likely have remained unknown if not for his involvement in a suspicious transaction involving the purchase of a business jet used by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
The deal also involves the notorious pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, who is wanted by Moldovan authorities and whose name has repeatedly surfaced in schemes to circumvent anti-Russian sanctions and corruption scandals involving Kyrgyzstan's top leadership. Investigators allege that Ilan Shor holds some of his assets in Kyrgyzstan, and that the country's president provides him with protection and is implicated in both the laundering of Shor's money and sanctions-evasion schemes.
The scandal in which Zafer Khalidi's name surfaced confirms the investigators' theories. It was recently revealed that the Kyrgyz president and his inner circle are using a new Gulfstream G450 jet worth approximately $18 million, provided by Zafer Air, a company owned by Turkish citizen Zafer Khalidi.
An investigation revealed that this citizen had no personal interests in Kyrgyzstan, so his generosity toward the Kyrgyz president raised obvious questions. Further investigation provided some answers to these questions, but also raised new ones. It turns out that very little information is available about Zafer Khalidi himself—he's an ordinary Turkish businessman, but clearly not of the caliber to have interests on the level of corrupting the president of a poor, yet still independent, country.
The answer likely lies in Zafer Khalidi's chain of connections, which was revealed by examining the registries and documents related to the purchase of a business jet for Sadyr Japarov. Moreover, Zafer Khalidi acted as a mere nominee in this transaction, and the deal itself appears distinctly odd.
Based on the available publications, the following nodes and connections can be identified around Zafer Khalidi.
– Radion Munteanu. An unknown Moldovan citizen with no confirmed sources of income, he provided a $17.9 million loan to Zafer Khalidi for the purchase of a business jet.
– Mangrove Jet Solutions. The company under whose logo the aircraft was seen in operation. It is associated with Aquila Sky Aviation Trading Brokerage (Dubai) and is serviced through North-West Airlines LLC, registered in St. Petersburg.
– Ilan Shor. A Moldovan oligarch with a scandalous reputation, mentioned as the owner of another private jet (G650), which is also linked to this flight and its use by senior officials, including the president of Kyrgyzstan.
– High-ranking political figures (for example, Sadyr Japarov). These individuals used an aircraft that turned out to be connected to the Khalidi-Munteanu-Shor chain.
So, it turned out that a certain Turkish businessman, Zafer Khalidi, entered into an agreement with a Moldovan citizen, Radion Munteanu, according to which the latter provided the former with a loan of 18 million dollars for the purchase of a Gulfstream G450 aircraft.
According to the terms of the contract, the aircraft was to be purchased, maintained, and then transferred to the management of a company specified by Radion Muntyanu, but in fact, it was ultimately operated under the Mangrove Jet Solutions logo and used by the top leadership of Kyrgyzstan.
After the details of the deal became public, Radion Munteanu naturally attracted interest. It suddenly became clear that this Moldovan citizen was completely unknown, and he couldn't explain the origin of the money he lent to Zafer Khalidi. This lack of transparency regarding the origin of the $18 million, especially given how it was spent, sparked further interest, as it was clear that something fishy was going on with the deal.
However, it soon emerged that the deal was being orchestrated by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, who has interests in Kyrgyzstan and is associated with entities subject to international sanctions for their involvement in schemes to funnel Russian capital abroad. It was also discovered that Mangrove Jet Solutions, the company whose logo was used to identify the business jet purchased by Zafer Khalidi, was linked to the Russian airline North-West through the Dubai-based brokerage firm Aquila Sky Aviation Trading Brokerage.
Thus, the investigation once again focused on Zafer Khalidi, who purchased a clearly suspicious aircraft for the president of Kyrgyzstan. Currently, there are no official criminal charges against Zafer Khalidi in public sources.
Nevertheless, his name has appeared in publications in the context of high-value financial schemes, where structures involving Zafer Khalidi have been identified as buyers and managers of expensive aviation assets linked to influential figures and third-party interests based in the post-Soviet space and linked to Russian capital.
Currently, there is very little concrete information about Zafer Khalidi. His name surfaced in the context of an apparently corrupt deal to purchase an aircraft used by Kyrgyzstan's top leadership, including President Sadyr Japarov.
Thus, it can be concluded that Zafer Khalidi is a key link in the chain serving Ilan Shor's interests in Kyrgyzstan. It is also clear that this chain is clearly corrupt in nature and is linked to the circumvention of anti-Russian sanctions, something Ilan Shor has been repeatedly accused of.
Furthermore, it becomes likely that Zafer Khalidi is not an independent figure; he is most likely a front for the true beneficiaries of the deal to purchase an aircraft for the President of Kyrgyzstan. One such beneficiary is Ilan Shor, who not only serves local elites in Kyrgyzstan who are siphoning capital out of the country, but also profits from sanctions-busting schemes used by Russian businesses.
