Kairat Satybaldyuly's Assets Worth $1.6 billion Confiscated

The Anti-Corruption Service reported which illegally acquired assets it confiscated from oligarch Kairat Satybaldyuly, Orda.kz reports.

In response to numerous media inquiries, Antikor recalled that investigations into Satybaldyuly were conducted on embezzling funds from Kazakhtelecom and JSC Center for Transport Service on an especially large scale, as well as money laundering and property obtained by criminal means. The company controlled by the oligarch also evaded customs duties.

During the investigation, Kairat Satybaldyuly fully admitted his guilt, compensated for the damage in total, and also aided in the criminal offense investigation and the disclosure of property obtained by criminal means, the Anti-Corruption Service said in a statement.

Satybaldyuly's assets worth 732.8 billion tenge ($1.6 billion) were returned to the state. $661.5 million were found abroad: Austria, Liechtenstein, the UAE, Türkiye, etc. The returned property includes 28.8% of Kazakhtelecom shares worth 93.8 billion tenge, shares of JSC CTS worth 30.2 billion tenge, and stakes in four companies worth 10.3 billion tenge. 

Other seized property:

• Property in Kazakhstan worth 158.5 billion tenge
• Exclusive jewelry worth 105.4 billion tenge
• Money in accounts in Kazakhstan totaling 36.8 billion tenge
• Securities worth 135.8 billion tenge.

The following were found and confiscated: Austria — 82.1 million dollars, Liechtenstein — 260.5 million tenge, the UAE — 14 million dollars, and Türkiye — 4.92 million dollars.

115 facilities in Kazakhstan owned by Satybaldyuly, with a total value of over 158 billion tenge, were transferred to state ownership. 73 are real estate, including 13 houses, 13 land plots, four apartments, two madrassas, and many administrative buildings. In addition, 29 cars, three ATVs, and five units of special equipment were confiscated from the oligarch.

The total area of ​​administrative buildings transferred to the state in the cities of Astana and Almaty exceeds 180 thousand square meters. Previously, the assets were leased; they annually brought the owner multi-billion income, the recipient of which is now the state, Antikor.

Satybaldyuly's former residence in Barap, Aqmola region, was transferred to the Astana education department's balance sheet. It is one and a half thousand square meters plus a plot of land of 135 hectares. The former residence will be used for social purposes.

In April 2024, Antikor reported on confiscating Kairat Satybaldyuly's assets. At that time, there were talks about returning additional property assets worth more than 50 billion tenge to the state.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny