Azamat Kapenov, wanted internationally by the Anti-Corruption service, may be hiding in the UAE. A number of media outlets claim he was married to the eldest daughter of Karim Massimov.
According to the Telegram channel 'Access to the Sea', data leaked online from the Russian 'Magistral' system, which tracks passenger movements, suggests that Kapenov is in the UAE. It is reported that Kapenov flew from Moscow to Dubai on 22 July 2023 but never returned.
It is also noted that this is not the first time Kapenov has attracted the attention of law enforcement. According to journalists, one of his criminal stories involves a fight with the well-known producer Yeltinzhal Turganalyev at the 'Beirut' restaurant in Almaty. Another involves a court case where Kapenov tried to prove that his first wife stole $150,000 from him.
It is also reported that in 2014, the prosecutor's office investigated a case regarding unjustifiably inflated tariffs of Kapenov's company, 'Kaztemirtrans'.
'Azamat moved to Moscow for the duration of the investigation, where he soon married Tamila, the eldest daughter of Karim Massimov, and obtained Russian citizenship — evidently not without the help of his influential relative', the message states.
'Access to the Sea' claims that Kapenov bought houses in elite districts of Moscow, a townhouse on the banks of the Moskva River, and an apartment in Varsonofyevsky Lane, 400 metres from the FSB headquarters on Lubyanka. It is estimated that Kapenov spent nearly 10 billion tenge on these properties. Furthermore, it is reported that before leaving Moscow, Azamat drove around the city in a Porsche Taycan Turbo S worth €190,000.
'Thanks to family ties with Karim Massimov, the case regarding the tariffs of the KTZ "daughter" company was hushed up, and Kapenov was once again able to travel to Kazakhstan without fear of criminal prosecution', the message states.
It was previously reported that the manhunt for Azamat Kapenov may be linked to the case of JSC 'Bipek Auto Kazakhstan'. Allegedly, earlier, the company's founder, Anatoly Balushkin, named Karim Massimov as one of the beneficiaries of the campaign to destroy his business, and Kapenov as the negotiator.
Recently, it became known that a trial in absentia for Anatoly Balushkin has begun in Ust-Kamenogorsk. It was reported that in 2020, the authorities terminated the contract with the company and demanded the return of government funds amounting to 174 billion tenge. Allegedly, its representatives failed to fulfil obligations regarding industrial car assembly. The company had received tax breaks for this amount over 10 years.
In December 2022, one of the top managers of 'Asia-Bipek AVTO' was detained in Prague, however, it was not reported who exactly, only that on 12 August 2021, Balushkin was put on the wanted list, and a court had ordered his arrest in absentia under Article 190, Part 4, of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan - fraud.
Later, private bailiffs of the East Kazakhstan region put up for auction the building complex of the car assembly plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk, which Anatoly Balushkin built in the early 2000s. A railway access line had been laid to it.
In 2023, it became known that the AFM (Agency for Financial Monitoring) is conducting a pre-trial investigation against the chairman of the board of directors of 'Asia-Bipek AVTO', Anatoly Balushkin, the general director of JSC 'Asia AVTO', Yerik Sagymbaev, and a number of top managers of the group of companies. At the time, it was reported that they were accused of embezzling more than 230 billion tenge.