Kazakh tycoon Boranbayev arrested in Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN. March 17 (Interfax) - Well-known Kazakh tycoon Kairat Boranbayev, who is a franchisee of McDonald's in Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling funds from Kazakhstan's quasi-public sector, the press service for the Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) of the Republic of Kazakhstan said.

"The Financial Monitoring Agency is conducting a criminal probe into the embezzlement of funds in an extremely large amount in the quasi-public sector. K.S. Boranbayev, who is suspected of having committed this crime, has been detained and placed in a detention facility," the FMA press service said in a statement on Thursday.

On March 17, a Kazakh court ordered custody as a measure of restraint for Boranbayev for two months, it said.

The investigation is continuing, FMA said.

The 55-year-old Boranbayev is one of the richest people in Kazakhstan and a relative of the first Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Boranbayev's daughter was once married to Nazarbayev's grandson Aisultan.

According to Forbes, as of October 2021, Boranbayev is a franchisee of McDonald's in Kazakhstan, Belarus and several Russian regions. He also owns Alex-Saryagash, a company producing bottled mineral water, ALMATY LLP asset management company, LLP Kazakhstan Petrochemical Company CHEMICAL LLP, and HOLDINGOVAJA KOMPANIJA KAZTURBOREMONT LLP. Additionally, the businessman controls RR2, a company that manages paid parking lots, Aparking. in Almaty, Fitnation, a network of gyms, Rahat Palace Hotel in Almaty, 50% of the Esentai Mall shopping center, 50% in Esentai Tower, and a majority stake in the Kairat Football Club. Together with Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin and other partners, Boranbayev owns Karagandinskiy Pharmatsevticheskiy Komplex LLC (Karaganda Pharmaceutical Complex), which bottles the Russian-designed coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V and has reportedly produced validation batches of the single-shot Sputnik Light vaccine.