Millions frozen in Kazakh exile’s assets in Malta

The Kazakh exile Rakhat Aliyev could have had over €40 million in assets frozen by a Maltese court over a money laundering investigation, the Austrian lawyer hunting him down has told MaltaToday.

Gabriel Lansky is an old nemesis of Aliyev, 52, the man who was once the son-in-law of Kazakhstan dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev. Since he moved to Malta in 2010, the family feud has spilled onto the island: Austrian investigators want to question him over a double-murder in Astana, German police are investigating an alleged money laundering operation from Krefeld, and two bodyguards are petitioning the Maltese courts to force the police to investigate him on accusations of torture.

On his part, Aliyev portrays himself as an agent of democratic change ousted by Nazarbayev, accusing people like Lansky – who represents the wives of the murdered Nurbank bankers – of being bankrolled by the regime.

“It’s his defence strategy to claim that allegations against him are invented by the secret service and that everyone is engaged by the secret service,” Lansky says over recent allegations by Aliyev’s lawyer, Joe Giglio, that confidential court documents in Malta were leaked to the Foreign Intelligence Service (which falls under direct control of Nazarbayev…).

“As a former secret service chief he knows how to roll out such a misinformation campaign. It’s bullshit. We represent the victims and nothing else.”

Getting Aliyev inside a courtroom has been far from straightforward.

He availed himself of his spouse’s Austrian nationality to have free movement across the eurozone. But in 2013, his Austrian alien’s passport was revoked after an ombudsman flagged irregularity in the way it was issued.

From Vienna, prosecutor Bettina Waldner came to Malta to question Aliyev over accusations that he commissioned the murder of the two bankers in 2007. But now, the new Austrian minister for justice is Wolfgang Brandstetter – Aliyev’s former defence attorney as recent as 2011. He has now created a special council to determine which cases might involve a potential conflict of interest for him, something Lansky says is a “good interim solution.”

Amid the slow progress, Lansky cranked up the pressure with a money laundering case on hundreds of millions in funds accumulated through extortion and embezzlement in Kazakhstan.

“The Nurbank investigations are at an advanced stage, with exhaustive evidence that also poses a significant challenge for the State prosecutor. I’m convinced the charges will be raised in court.

“In the money laundering case there are continually new clues. We indentified several hundred companies across the globe through which Aliyev transfers and conceals assets. I believe there’s a good chance that the State prosecutor will prove the charges on money laundering as well, but investigations are still ongoing.”

That will be up to the Austrian courts to decide whether to proceed with an arrest, even though Aliyev’s real location is yet to be determined. Lanksy himself is unsure of whether he is still in Malta after applying for a Cypriot passport. Aliyev has several properties at Fort Cambridge, Pendergardens, and Santa Marija Estate, where companies in his name or connected to him have been registered at.

Lansky says “several hundreds of millions” are stashed away in a complex network of companies in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Panama, the Caribbean, and, centrally, Malta.

When the money started being shifted in 2009, it was hard to pin down Aliyev’s plans. But a feud with his lawyer Pio Valletta, who demanded an exorbitant €1.5 million fee, blew the case wide open when the matter went into court.

Aliyev had just been stripped of his diplomatic immunity and forcibly divorced from his wife by Nazarbayev. In April 2010, he renamed himself Rakhat Shoraz, and moved to Malta with his wife Elnara Shorazova, who also acts as authorized signatory on most of the accounts. His network of companies is a complex web of activity: for example, one Maltese company whose assets have been frozen by the Maltese courts, Camco Holdings, has capital based in Panama; another Maltese firm, Zurich Asset Management, is owned by a ‘postbox’ in St Kitts & Nevis in the Caribbean with Mrs Shorazova the authorized signatory.

Lansky says the creation of the companies appear to be artificial, not business driven. “Now they are under investigation by the prosecution authorities of several European countries, to see if the true purpose of these companies was to hide enormous sums of money, and disguise Aliyev’s ownership to prevent injunctions by the civil courts in case of claims for damages by the victims.”

Of course, Aliyev’s victims want justice. And they also want money, of which Aliyev appears to have loads. “Our law firm represents those persons, who were recognized as victims of crime by the Austrian authorities, who lost their assets in the black hole of this money laundering machine,” Lansky says. “Our clients have significant claims for damages and the restoration of property and assets stolen or extorted by Aliyev.”

He mentions as an example Aliyev’s purchase of sugar imports to Kazakhstan, which he bought at an enormous premium from foreign companies he actually controlled. “This huge damages are what Kazakhstan says has resulted from tax evasion.”