In the courtroom hearing the case of Gulmira Satybaldy, the brother of her former son-in-law, Kasym Zhunusov, gave evidence. He recounted how Satybaldy secured the support of former president Nazarbayev.
As reported by ORDA, Zhunusov stated that his brother, at that time the founder of Baur Kazakhstan JSC, had invited him to work as chairman of the supervisory board. It was there that he first began to work closely with Gulmira Satybaldy.
"She received me well and helped me because she had connections with Kairat Satybaldy and Nazarbayev. We completed all projects on time: a school in the Turksib district, as well as a NIS (Nazarbayev Intellectual School) worth 4.5 and 3.7 billion tenge. We also built an ice arena costing 24 billion tenge. There were no problems at all. This is confirmed by photographs from the openings of the constructed facilities. Baybek, Nazarbayev, and Gulmira Satybaldy are in them. The ice arena was officially opened by Nazarbayev himself," he shared.
For his part, the victim's lawyer, Olzhas Karbozin, requested that the photographs mentioned by his client be added to the case file. He believes they should confirm that there was no embezzlement at Baur Kazakhstan JSC (Satybaldy had previously accused her former son-in-law of siphoning funds from the company). Karbozin was supported in court by Rashid Tenizbayev, the lawyer for Satybaldy's former son-in-law, Abay Zhunusov.
"We ask for the motion to be granted. The defence believes this issue is being politicised. But we are talking about circumstances that actually occurred. The photographs not only show Zhunusov himself; Gulmira Satybaldy is also there – they all worked together amicably. They were one team, the top management. Moreover, the president would not have accepted that facility if there had been any judicial violations, disputes, debts, or scandals. Therefore, we request that these be included in the case materials," argued Zhunusov's lawyer.
The former general director of Baur Kazakhstan JSC, Bakyt Kabenov, also gave evidence as a witness in court. According to him, Satybaldy threatened Abay Zhunusov and accused him of stealing money.
"Gulmira threatened Abay Zhunusov, saying she would take him out of the city. She called Madi, ordering him to get some guys to beat him up. But Aibatyr Zhumagulov talked her out of it. Mekeshova said it was impossible to gather evidence of Zhunusov's guilt immediately, that he had robbed the company. Gulmira Satybaldy also threatened other company employees with physical violence and imprisonment. We silently carried out her orders. All meetings with Abay were organised by Aigul Mekeshova. We couldn't visit him at any time. When Zhunusov came to us, he couldn't take a step to the right or left. A minder was also assigned to me. All the time Zhunusov was under house arrest, this person accompanied me and reported my movements to Gulmira Satybaldy," Kabenov recalled.
The witness also claimed that Satybaldy demanded her subordinates find any documents that could confirm the embezzlement committed by Zhunusov. However, they were unable to find any. Ultimately, according to Kabenov, the defendant ordered the confiscation of property from her former son-in-law.
"I was temporarily listed as a founder of the LLP 'Aria Zhana Astana'. 'Nurbank' requested my personal guarantees. Gulmira Satybaldy threatened me, demanding that I give a personal guarantee and put up my house as collateral. After that, 'Nurbank' arranged a credit line for the company. And Radionov was immediately appointed president. Now I am left as a debtor to the bank for 2.7 billion tenge," Kabenov continued.
The judge asked why he signed the documents that the lawyers gave him.
"There were threats: 'Whoever does not help me is against me,' Gulmira Satybaldy used to say. She had Batyrbek put in prison in Astana. Mekeshova was kidnapped from her home. We saw what was happening to Zhunusov. We were afraid of her. We didn't know who we could turn to for protection," the witness replied.
It will be recalled that the charges of illegal imprisonment, extortion, and arbitrariness became known last year in court, shortly before the sentencing of Gulmira Satybaldy, who was ultimately sentenced to 8 years in prison for embezzlement and misappropriation of property.
The defendant stated at the time that she did not admit her guilt. Two other defendants in the case — Madi Batyrshayev, accused of arbitrariness and kidnapping, and Rashid Utebekov, accused of kidnapping — partially admitted their guilt.
Entrepreneurs Tursen Alaguzov and Aigul Mekeshova were recognised as victims of the actions of Gulmira Satybaldy and others. The amount of damage caused exceeded 6.6 billion tenge.
Later in court, Gulmira Satybaldy got into an argument with her former son-in-law, Abay Zhunusov. She attempted to draw attention to allegedly improperly closed criminal cases that had been opened against Zhunusov.