The Anti-Corruption Department for the East Kazakhstan Region is searching for Azamat Kapenov. According to some sources, he is the former son-in-law of Karim Massimov.
According to the Telegram channel «Nege.Aqsha», people online are saying he was married to Massimov's eldest daughter.
«The couple allegedly divorced fictitiously in an attempt to preserve property and money after the January events», the message states.
It is reported that the search may be linked to the case of JSC «Bipek Auto Kazakhstan». As it became known, the company's founder, Anatoly Balushkin, had previously named Massimov as one of the beneficiaries of the campaign to destroy his business, and Kapenov as the negotiator.
For context, it recently became known that a trial in absentia has begun in Ust-Kamenogorsk regarding Anatoly Balushkin. It was reported that in 2020, the authorities terminated the contract with the company and demanded the return of government-allocated funds amounting to 174 billion tenge. Allegedly, its representatives failed to fulfil obligations for the industrial assembly of cars. The company received tax breaks totalling this amount over 10 years.
In December 2022, one of the top managers of «Asia-Bipek AUTO» was detained in Prague; however, it was not reported who exactly, only a reminder that on 12 August 2021, Balushkin was put on the wanted list, and the court had authorised 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 siding had been laid to it.
In 2023, it became known that the Financial Monitoring Agency is conducting a pre-trial investigation against the chairman of the board of directors of «Asia-Bipek AUTO» Anatoly Balushkin, the general director of JSC «Asia AUTO» Erik Sagymbaev, and a number of top managers of the group of companies. It was reported at the time that they are accused of embezzling more than 230 billion tenge.