The Asset Recovery Committee of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan has filed a lawsuit against Timur Kulibayev with the Almaty City Court.
According to the Telegram channel “Nege Aqsha”, the case is being considered in the appellate instance. No further details have been disclosed yet.
At the same time, a report on the investigation into Kulibayev, published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), has been mentioned. It details assets acquired abroad by the businessman.
“By 2007, Kulibayev had become one of the ultra-wealthy, appearing for the first time on the Forbes billionaires list. As the ICIJ investigation showed, the Sunninghill Park estate in Berkshire, which Kulibayev acquired with the help of Arvind Tiku, became one of six properties worth a total of around $184 million that were purchased through a network of Kulibayev’s companies in the UK in the same year. Three of them were in Mayfair, a prestigious area of London known for its five-star hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants”, the statement reads.
According to journalists, Kulibayev also purchased two other properties in London at the same time for $54.5 million.
“Around the same time, according to documents from the Caspian Cabals investigation, Kulibayev and his partners bought property through companies registered in high-secrecy jurisdictions such as the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands. He and his associates also set up companies in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Luxembourg and other European countries to purchase property and manage Kulibayev’s corporate assets”, the investigation reports.
Furthermore, the ICIJ investigation showed that in 2011, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium entered into a contract for the construction of two pumping stations with KazStroyService. This company was controlled by Kulibayev through the Singapore-based fund Steppe Capital.
Initially, the project cost was $276.5 million, but ultimately rose to $486 million. At the same time, instead of 2.5 years, the project took 6.5 years to complete.
“As the projects dragged on, Kulibayev and his circle continued to fund a lavish lifestyle. For example, around $1.6 million was spent on celebrating his wife Dinara’s birthday and summer holidays in Spain”, the statement reads.
For their part, Kulibayev’s lawyers stated that he was not involved in the management of the company or the discussion of the contract.
Recall that in July, the media noticed that documents indicating proceedings between Timur Kulibayev and the Asset Recovery Committee of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan were present in the court office.
The FBRK editorial board reviewed these documents. It turned out that Kulibayev had repeatedly applied to the court to challenge the actions of the asset recovery committee, but the inter-district civil court of Astana returned the businessman’s applications.