In our publication on Nazarbayev’s eldest nephew titled “What’s Next for Kayrat Satybaldy”, we, quoting our source in the corridors of power, have said that Kayrat Satybaldy is being held in the NSC pretrial detention center and that the conditions of his confinement are more than favorable.
And that “not only do they not bother him with interrogations but even provide him with an opportunity to carry out religious practices (in a separate room, at that)” while “when communicating with the detainee, the investigators stress that, if he testifies and pleads guilty, a they may agree to a deal and his punishment may be reduced to paying a large fee”.
Meanwhile, according to the official answer of the Criminal-Incarceration Committee (CIC) of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Interior given to news portal “Express K”, both Nazarbayev’s relatives “are being held under the general terms of confinement in building ETs-166/1”, in other words, in the CIC pretrial detention center located in Nur-Sultan.
We do not know why the info provided by our source differs from the CIC official answer but it could mean that, for some reason, Kayrat Satybaldy had been moved from one pretrial detention center to another.
In the same publication, we, citing KazTAG, have said that Kayrat Satybaldy intends to give back all the assets claimed by the state and walk free as soon as possible, perhaps even at the end of this summer.
We believe this is quite feasible. Because (quoting) – “giving 28.8% of Kazakhtelecom’s ordinary shares back to the state with a stroke of a pen is worth a lot. Consider, had Akorda tried to achieve the same result via its standard methods (namely, legal trials in Kazakhstan and beyond), it would have taken it at least two or three years and cost several dozen million dollars”.
According to our insiders in the corridors of power, this is how the events were supposed to unfold:
- a) Kayrat Satybaldy pleads guilty to all the crimes he has been accused of;
- b) the court takes into account his honest confessions as well as the voluntary restitution of the assets;
- c) the court passes a relatively mild sentence (a short-term prison term and a large fee);
- g) the court counts his stay in the pretrial detention center as time served;
- d) Kayrat Saztybaly serves the rest of the term, pays the fee curtesy of his nearest and dearest and then walks free with a clear conscience.
However, the situation has changed.
According to the insiders, apart from embezzling state property, Kayrat Satybaldy is being accused of large-scale bribery. And it looks like the investigators have more than enough related evidence to convict him.
This evidence, as we have been told, includes not only the confessions of Nazarbayev’s nephew but the testimony of his assistants. Apart from that, the investigators are alleged to have the materials of an unofficial conversation monitoring (conducted not only on the phone).
All this is backed up by the notes of the assistants involved in registering the bribes received, recording the money flows as well as documenting to whom the money was given and for what.
By the way, according to our insider, thanks to the investigators’ efforts, it has been established that Kayrat Satybaldy’s trusted people were swindling him. In other words, taking the commission fee for their participation in the “process” without his permission.
Consequent to these unexpected revelations, the investigators have encountered a problem: it is unclear how much money Satybaldy received in bribes and, therefore, what he should be charged with. De-facto, he received less than the people seeking his help or protection intended to give him. On the other hand, we are certain that the investigators will find a way to solve this problem.
At the same time, due to the fact that, these days, the demand on corrupt officials is higher than on simple state property embezzlers (at least, on paper), Kayrat Satybaldy may spend a lot more time behind bars than he intends to.
We would like to conclude this article with the talk we have had with yet another insider (from Kayrat Satybaldy’s circle). Commenting on the situation, he observed with sadness, that, had Nursultan Nazarbayev chosen not to hand over the presidential authorities to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Satybaldy would have never found himself in such an unfortunate position.
The same source has called to memory the fact that the Elbasy’s nephew began taking bribes a long time ago, back in the 1990s. Allegedly, his first bribe constituted $25 thousand for getting a post in the state apparatus. And when the relevant authorities informed his uncle on this, Nazarbayev made the air blue but did not turn him in and stood by him later. Still, Nazarbayev chose not to entrust his nephew with the asset management.
