Perizat Kairat: What Was the Fund Actually Doing?

Orda.kz has investigated the situation surrounding the head of Biz Birgemiz, Perizat Kairat.

According to Orda.kz's sources, Perizat Kairat may face fraud, theft, and embezzlement charges.

The activist could face 10 years with possible confiscation of property.

A thorough investigation must be conducted to initiate a criminal case against a person under these articles.

In particular, the fund's activities must be audited and monitored, which is what the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) was doing. Since the fund is not state-owned but private, it had to publish the state audit results on its website annually and independently.

We found no reports or audit results on the fund's website. The main page only has a button offering to transfer money to the fund, which persistently pops up on every page.

The Fund

Many people confuse Perizat Kairat's Foundation with the Birgemiz charity crowdfunding platform created by Halyk Bank. Perhaps, the name choice was intentional, as the latter is a trusted organization.

So far, law enforcement has only targeted the head of the fund, but the situation may change.

Questions will also be asked of the other fund members: there are nine.

Many of these people have ties to the AMANAT party in some way.

The AMANAT clarified that the party was not the founder of the Biz Birgemiz Foundation:

It should be noted that in April of this year, during the acute phase of the floods, the youth wing of the "Jastar Ruhi" party 'AMANAT' carried out large-scale work to provide assistance to those affected. Activists and volunteers helped with the delivery of humanitarian aid collected by many charitable organizations, including the NGO "Biz Birgemiz Qazaqstan 2030" fund, party representatives reported.

The organization was created in October 2021.

On her page, Perizat Kairat often reported on the delivery of humanitarian aid, including boats, clothing, and food.

However, we found no detailed financial report on donations there either.

The foundation's Instagram page's last publication on April 29 was about raising two billion tenge. 

FMA likely noticed suspicious banking transactions. The department also reported that Perizat Kairat cashed money through her friends and relatives for an 8% reward.

According to one of our interlocutors, the case involves a certain list of businessmen who could have cashed money through this fund during the spring natural disaster.

If there had been no floods, they would have invented them. They just needed a pretext. A priori, no one was going to help the Kazakhstanis. A part might have been sent to help the victims, but no more,"our source reported.

Perhaps Perizat Kairat is not the central figure. 

Reactions

Many were shocked by the revelation of the fund's activities. Blogger Madeleine said that she donated money to the fund in the spring and called on her followers to do the same. She stated that there would be no more collections on her page.

Meanwhile, Blogger Dinara Satzhan claimed three years ago that Perizat Kairat approached her with a request to hold a charity evening in Astana. The event's main goal was to raise funds to construct a rehabilitation center for children with special needs in the capital.

Dinara said they agreed to participate.

Subsequently, when meeting with Perizat Kairat, Dinara repeatedly inquired about the center; she received the answer that construction issues were being resolved.

This spring, Dinara Satzhan reportedly met with Perizat Kairat again.

Kairat said that she had bought two well-known flower brands in Astana.

Who is Perizat Kairat?

Kairat is 32, originally from Aqtobe, graduated from Aqtau, and has lived in Astana since 2015.

Perizat wrote that she graduated from the British University of Nottingham, majoring in business management.

She lived and worked in Abu Dhabi, UAE, for four years. In Kazakhstan, she worked in various structures, including an Akimat, an unnamed political party, and an NGO.

Perizat owns a chain of premium flower shops in Astana in Talan Gallery and Sensata Park. She said that their family-owned LLP supplies meat to Arab countries. 

She is a self-proclaimed volunteer with international experience, a public figure, and the head of the Biz Birgemiz Qazaqstan charity fund, which operates on a pro bono basis.

She was also a member of the public council of ASPIR (Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

She headed the Table Tennis Federation less than a month ago.

However, she was quickly removed from this post due to her detention and the start of an investigation. The organization's statement claims that the girl herself initiated the election.

Since her appointment, no official meetings or work orders have been held under her leadership. We will continue to work in accordance with the principles of transparency and legality, supporting the development of para-table tennis and our athletes. the organization claimed.

Original Author: Olga Ibraeva

The original article was posted on 15/11/24. For accuracy, please refer to it.