Mystery Man: What is Known about Bakhyt Ibrahim?

Banker Bakhyt Ibrahim, who committed suicide on March 14, was well-known in Kazakhstan. He ran a large bank, Qazaq banki, and was also a stakeholder. In the domestic media, he has been called the son-in-law, or rather former son-in-law, of ex-Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev. These factors would seemingly imply at least minimal publicity, yet almost no one knows what Bakhyt Ibrahim looked like. There is no information about him in public sources, and journalists have had to gather scant information about him. Orda has looked into the situation.

Bakhyt Ibrahim was born in 1985. In 2010, at the age of 25, he became an adviser to the Chairman of the Board of Eximbank Kazakhstan JSC, another failed bank associated with Ibrahim.

A few months later, he became the commercial director of TOO SAKURA OilTrade. In 2011, he received a new position - Managing Director of KazTransGas Aimak JSC.

In 2012, he received the position of Acting Deputy General Director for Business Development of KazMunayGas JSC.

Ibrahim became chairman of the Board of JSC "Senim Bank" in 2013 when he was only 28 years old. The bank would later change its name to Qazaq banki.

We discovered that Bakhyt Ibrahim and Amina Ibrahim Bakhytovna, born in 2009, are included in the list of persons affiliated with JSC Cotton Contract Corporation.

It is also known that he was the founder (stakeholder) of Aspan Air LLP.

Arrest in Germany

In 2018, the license of Qazaq banki JSC was revoked. The bank would later face complete liquidation. The JSC has more than 700 court proceedings under its belt. The bank's property (various real estate) is being sold on the state auction website. 

In early 2019, the court recovered more than 14 billion tenge from Ibrahim and Aspan Air LLP. In January 2019, depositors of Qazaq Banki JSC received reimbursements amounting to KZT 18.6 billion.

Aspan Air LLP once had the right to carry out commercial air transportation. It is currently in the register of debtors in enforcement proceedings with six enforcement orders totaling over 11 billion tenge. The company has a billion-tenge debt in tax liabilities.

Ibrahim's third company, Kazmakta JSC, was also marred in controversies. In 2018, a criminal case was opened against the company over liabilities owed to farms. The company ended up paying them 323 million tenge.

In 2020, Bakhyt Ibrahim was tried in the case against banker Zhomart Yertayev. Yertayev was suspected of embezzling 144 billion tenge. Yertaev, like Ibrahim, was found guilty of embezzlement along with a group of former employees of the bank. Yertayev was handed down 11 years, whereas Ibrahim received seven years. As he had been in pre-trial detention since his detention in 2018, this time was counted towards his sentence. Yertayev was detained in Moscow in May 2018 and extradited to Kazakhstan.

In 2023, Ibrahim was released after serving his sentence. Zhomart Yertayev continues to serve his sentence.

Original Author: Ilya Astakhov

DISCLAIMER: This is a translated piece. The text has been modified, the content is the same. Please refer to the original piece in Russian for accuracy.