Page 52 - bne_Magazine_April_2018

52 I Eurasia bne April 2018
Kazakh businessman on trial for hit job recaptured after prison escape
band’s relative Beken Imankaliyev, who accused Tokmadi of killing Tatishev, was disingenuous as Imankaliyev was likely pressured to record it.
Ablyazov became BTA Bank’s chairman in 2004 shortly after Tatishev’s death. The Kazakh authorities accuse Ablyazov of massive fraud – Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna took over BTA Bank in 2009 and subsequently alleged Ablyazov and his subordinates had siphoned off as much as $5bn from the lender.
It was last October that Kazakh state prosecutors announced that they were restarting an investigation into the death of Tatishev. The death was previously ruled to be a case of involuntary manslaughter that occurred during
a hunting trip, which only involved Tokmadi and Tatishev. Tokmadi was freed until he was detained again in mid-2017 amid allegations that he was the leader of a racketeering group.
‘Confession’ in a TV documentary
An October 25 statement about the reopening of the Tatishev case followed a television documentary aired on October 24 in which Tokmadi states that Tatishev’s death was a “hit job” ordered by Ablyazov. While it is possible that Ablyazov may have played a role
in Tatishev’s demise, at the time of his death some Kazakh analysts stated that his death might have been orchestrated by Kazakh elites at large.
Tokmadi is an owner of large glass manufacturing producer, including
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Kazakh police on March 9 reported the recapture of businessman Muratkhan Tokmadi, who
has pleaded guilty to the murder of prominent Kazakh banker Yerzhan Tatishev in a “hit job” allegedly ordered by fugitive banker Mukhtar Ablyazov. All the roads running out of Taraz,
in the south of Kazakhstan near the Kyrgyz border, were blocked and police officers managed to take Tokmadi back into custody a matter of hours after his escape from a prison hospital, according to local media reports.
Tokmadi’s trial on the murder charge began on February 16 in Taraz. Ablyazov says the allegations that he ordered Tokmadi to kill Tatishev are a "lie." Tati- shev was CEO of BTA Bank at the time he died from a single shot to the head in 2004. Tokmadi’s wife, Jamilya Aimbe-
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tova-Tokmadi, said on her Instagram page last year that her husband was tortured while in detention and that she did not believe the Kazakh Security Services’ (KNB's) allegations. She claimed she was threatened by the KNB
“Police officers managed to take Tokmadi back into custody a matter of hours after his escape from a prison hospital”
for vocalising her opinions. Further- more, she alleged that the KNB was attempting to force Tokmadi to “admit” from prison that he murdered Tatishev on Ablyazov’s orders. Aimbetova- Tokmadi maintained that a Youtube video from July 2017 featuring her hus-
KazStroySteklo. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has previously granted government awards to Tokma- di’s business for high-quality work.
An in-absentia trial sentenced Ablyazov on June 7 last year to 20 years in