Bolat Nazarbayev’s Former Stepson Bought $35.5 Million U.S. Estate for $10

Daniyar Kesikbayev, the former stepson of the late Bolat Nazarbayev, bought one of the most expensive estates in New Jersey’s history for just $10. The deal was finalized back in March 2025, Orda.kz reports, citing the New York Post.

The property is located at 2 Margo Way in Alpine, New Jersey. The house, which covers nearly 1,600 square meters, sits on a 1.25-hectare lot. Inside, it has nine bedrooms, a basketball court, a bowling alley, a home theater, a library, a wine cellar, an elevator and a saltwater pool. Another pool is located outside.

The house was built in 2000 by construction magnate Joe Scott. He bought the land in 1997 for $1.55 million. In December 2012, the estate was sold for $20 million in cash to an anonymous shell company that several sources link to Kesikbayev. At the time, it was the most expensive residential real estate transaction in New Jersey’s history.

It was December; they wanted to close the deal before the end of the year. We sold it and moved to another house. Twenty million is much more than I spent on construction,Scott said.

Kesikbayev is married to Nuriana Najwa, the daughter of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was convicted for his role in the embezzlement of $4.5 billion from the 1MDB state fund. Razak is currently in prison.

The estate has now become the center of a scandal in Malaysia. Accusations have appeared on social media that Razak’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, was involved in the purchase of the house and allegedly transferred ownership to Daran Investments Capital Inc., a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, in May. Both Mansor and the company’s alleged shareholder have called the accusations slander and filed reports with the police. A source close to Kesikbayev told the New York Post that the house still belongs to him and has not been transferred to anyone.

This is not Kesikbayev’s first such deal. He previously bought a $20 million apartment at New York’s Plaza Hotel for $1. The apartment was purchased in 2008 by Bolat Nazarbayev, and Kesikbayev, acting under a power of attorney, added his mother Maira Kurmangaliyeva’s name to the documents and then bought the apartment from her for one dollar.

For example, in 2012, Bolat Nazarbayev filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan court, accusing Kesikbayev and Kurmangaliyeva of embezzling more than $100 million. The assets included an apartment at the Plaza, two apartments on Wall Street worth $4.35 million, an apartment on the Miami coast and $75 million worth of jewelry from Jacob & Co. In 2014, the parties settled the dispute. Bolat reclaimed the apartment at the Plaza and other real estate, but dropped his claims to the estate in New Jersey.

As the New York Post notes, the $20 million purchase of the estate in 2012 coincided with a period when tens of millions of dollars, apparently funneled out of Malaysia and Kazakhstan, were pouring into the U.S. real estate market.

Original author: Ruslan Loginov

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