Court Continues Hearings in High-Profile Case Against Former Shymkent Security Official Manap Sarbasov

The trial of Manap Sarbasov, a former high-ranking officer of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB), is ongoing in Shymkent. He faces charges including large-scale fraud, bribery, and laundering of illegally obtained assets, Orda.kz reports.

The latest hearing began with the testimony of Alibek Kasenov, described as a close acquaintance of Sarbasov.

According to lawyer Elmira Duisenkyzy, Kasenov delivered 15 million tenge to lawyer Alen Sadybaev. The investigation states Sarbasov asked Kasenov to rent a hotel room, where he later placed a bag containing the money.

The bag was left between a nightstand and bed and covered with a towel.

During the investigation, Kasenov reportedly admitted knowing the contents of the package and its intended recipient.

However, in court, he gave a different account.

Sarbasov asked me to rent a hotel for his visiting friend, to buy alcohol and fruit. I was busy, as I worked in the Akimat. I asked my friend to rent a room, drove him to the hotel, left him, and went to work. On the way back, I picked him up. That same day, I stopped by Sarbasov's home, the housekeeper brought out a package. I don't know what was in the package, as I didn't open it. I left this package with other things in the room. I thought that the package belonged to Sarbasov's friend. Later, Sarbasov himself called me and asked me to take the package to that lawyer. I was busy, so I asked the lawyer to pick up the package from the hotel himself, and brought him the key to the room,the witness said.

Kasenov also stated that he had been pressured during the investigation.

After Sarbasov was locked up in a pre-trial detention center, the next day I was taken in for questioning by DIS officers. Before the questioning, I had a long conversation with DIS investigator Aidos. During the conversation, Aidos put pressure on me, threatening to put me in a pre-trial detention center as Sarbasov's accomplice. The security service officers showed me a warrant to search my house. They put handcuffs on the table and threatened that if I didn't testify, they would lock me up too. I was scared by Aidos's words and couldn't think straight. There could have been inconsistencies in my story. 

When asked by the judge and prosecutor whether he had filed a complaint against the investigator, Kasenov responded that he had been too afraid.

Another witness, former Bar Association chair Talgat Safarov, also gave testimony. According to Elmira Duisenkyzy, Sarbasov had asked Safarov to meet with her to discuss the debt. 

Safarov testified that he was unaware the conversation was recorded.

Then Sarbasov called me and said that some woman was trying to blackmail him, asking for money. He asked me to meet with her and sort everything out. Through lawyer Alain Sadybaev, I met with her at Elmira Duisenkyzy's home. I said that I wanted to talk to her on behalf of Manap Sarbasov. She said that the committee officer owed her a large sum - somewhere around two hundred million - and asked to at least transfer the apartment worth 50-60 million tenge to her. I doubted the sanity of this woman. Later, during the investigation, I found out that she recorded our conversation,
Safarov stated. 

Following this, Sarbasov’s legal team requested that the court summon additional witnesses connected to Duisenkyzy.

Pervious Hearing

Lawyer Alen Sadybaev, who began representing Duisenkyzy in February 2022 after she was charged with fraud,  testified in the previous hearing. He said Duisenkyzy named Sarbasov a "debtor" during a meeting in pre-trial detention.

In the pre-trial detention center, she told me that she had many debtors and needed a large sum to pay off the damage. She asked me to help her get the money back. She named the employee of the National Security Committee Manap Sarbasov as one of the debtors. She also said that she was on good, friendly terms with him. I agreed to help her, since I became her defender. I contacted Sarbasov by phone and explained the situation. He told me that his little brother would contact me. After some time, the 'little brother' said that Sarbasov wanted to meet with me,
the witness said. 

The meeting was arranged in a sauna:

Sarbasov said he was ready to help, but within reason. I relayed our entire conversation to Duysenkyzy, and she agreed to reduce the amount to 30 million. Later, Sarbasov's 'brother' arrived and said that he had agreed with Elmira on an amount of 15 million tenge. Duysenkyzy asked me to take the money and give it to her son Bauyrzhan. Later, Sarbasov's 'brother' arrived and gave me an electronic key - a card from a hotel room - and said that the money was in the room, in the nightstand. I took the money, went to the office, and counted it. I left what was due to me, and I took the rest to Duysenkyzy's son,
 lawyer Alen Sadybaev told the court.

Duisenkyzy's son confirmed in court that he received the money from the lawyer and was instructed to deposit it.

The hotel room was reportedly rented at the request of Ruslan Yunusov, approached by Alibek Kasenov.

Alibeq Kasenov about two years ago asked me to rent a room in the Shymkent Hotel, with a safe. He took me to the hotel, I rented a single room for a day, on the third floor, for 20 thousand. I paid in cash. I gave him the electronic key,
the witness recalls. 

After Duisenkyzy’s release, she again contacted her lawyer, asking him to help recover the remainder of the money she claims to have paid Sarbasov over several years.

According to rough estimates, it came out to more than 800 million tenge. There were sums not only for 'patronage', but also for some specific services, I don't remember anymore. I was very surprised how an adult could give in to this. I agreed to help her. I contacted Sarbasov, and we met in a cafe. Elmira asked him point-blank about the money. He was taken aback: apparently, he was afraid that someone would hear, got up and left. Later, our mutual acquaintance, former chair of the Bar Association Talgat Safarov, who was sent by Sarbasov, contacted me. Safarov tried to discuss the topic of Sarbasov's debt with Duisenkyzy, but the businesswoman stood her ground and demanded that the committee officer return her money, otherwise she would contact the competent authorities,
said lawyer Alen Sadybaev. 

During the same hearing, Employees of the National Security Committee in the Turkistan region also testified via video link. They said that in 2020, Duisenkyzy had approached them informally, claiming to have transferred money to them through Sarbasov. 

They denied receiving any funds and advised her to submit an official complaint.

Original Author: Alexandra Kim, Second Article