Kazakhstan Rejected the Return of Over $200 million From Switzerland

Freezing Assets

Boranbayev was arrested in March 2022 in Astana, the capital city then-named Nur-Sultan. Local law enforcement agencies were investigating a series of gas resale transactions related to his companies, which they believed had caused significant damage to the state budget.

Three months after his arrest, in June 2022, Kazakhstan’s authorities sent a request to Switzerland’s Attorney General’s Office asking for bank records related to Boranbayev and his family. In April 2023, Kazakhstan’s authorities sent a follow-up request with additional details related to the charges against the businessman.

In response, in June 2023, a Swiss court ordered the freezing of Sholpan Boranbayeva’s bank accounts and provided the relative bank records to Kazakhstan.

Later that year, Boranbayev pleaded guilty to embezzlement and a number of other charges and made a deal with the prosecution. He agreed to hand over a significant portion of his assets to the state and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Shortly after, Kazakhstan’s authorities informed Switzerland through multiple letters that they lacked sufficient evidence to prove the illegal origin of the funds in the Boranbayevs' Swiss bank accounts and stated that they no longer had any claims against them.

In January 2025, a Swiss court annulled the previous decisions to freeze the accounts and provide legal assistance to Kazakhstan in this case.

The Boranbayevs’ lawyer did not respond to Vlast’s request for comment.

Shedding Assets

Boranbayev, once related to the family of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, was accused of embezzling about 14.6 billion tenge (around $29 million) through the resale of gas to the state-owned network QazaqGaz. According to the prosecution, he acted in collusion with officials of the national company.

Initially, the businessman rejected the charge. One year after his arrest, he was found guilty and sentenced to eight years in prison.

The sentence was later annulled. During hearings at a subsequent trial, Boranbayev admitted his guilt, signed a plea bargain, and was handed a shorter six-year sentence. In November 2023, he was released.

Kazakhstan’s authorities suspected that, as part of the embezzlement scheme, Boranbayev had transferred part of the funds received from the deals to bank accounts in Switzerland. This is evident from the local court proceedings, although the amounts listed in the sentence and the sum that Kazakhstan’s authorities asked Switzerland about differed significantly.

Almost immediately after his initial arrest, Boranbayev began transferring part of his assets to the state budget. In particular, just one month after his arrest, he gave up two companies in charge of parking zones in Almaty.

Overall, according to Vlast estimates, Boranbayev transferred assets worth approximately 94 billion tenge ($188 million) to the state, an amount initially estimated by Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency, which led the investigation into his case.

In particular, the businessman transferred to the state the Karazhanbas Severny field, valued at around 35.4 billion tenge ($71 million), the Asia Gas Chundzha gas distribution company worth 14 billion tenge ($28 million), and the oil and gas equipment production and repair plant KazTurboRemont with an estimated value of over 9 billion tenge ($18 million). Plus, he transferred office and retail properties in Almaty worth 33.75 billion tenge ($67 million), including the Almaly shopping center below Republic Square, office spaces in the Almaty Towers business center, and the Fitnation fitness club chain in Astana, Almaty, and Kostanay. Boranbayev also transferred the Comfort Hotel Astana worth over 1.4 billion tenge ($3 million).

In addition, Boranbayev compensated the state for damages in the amount of 14 billion tenge ($28 million), and also transferred 30 billion tenge ($60 million) to a fund to build schools. The court confiscated his premises in Almaty worth 686 million tenge ($1.3 million), as well as cash in accounts in the amount of 5.5 billion tenge ($11 million).

Keeping Assets

In addition to the funds unfrozen in Switzerland, which are presumably linked to Sholpan Boranbayeva, the businessman’s family still holds a number of other assets, including real estate in several countries, from the UK, to the Czech Republic, from the UAE to Russia.

He also holds significant business assets in various sectors, such as a stake in the Esentai residential and business complex and the “I’m” fast food chain (formerly McDonald’s).

Kazakhstan's Forbes has not included Boranbayev among the richest and most influential entrepreneurs in recent years. Yet, after his release, the businessman returned to his active public role: Boranbayev still heads the National Paralympic Committee, finances the Kairat Almaty football club, and sponsors the opening of a modern cultural center in Almaty.