Rakhat Mukhtaruly Aliyev (, Rahat Mūhtarūly Äliev; 10 December 1962 – 24 February 2015) was a Kazakh politician and diplomat, who died in an Austrian prison awaiting trial on charges of murder. His trial was planned to start in Vienna in first half of year 2015. Austrian legal circles were giving much attention to this high-profile criminal case in which a former diplomat was facing murder charges."Former Kazakh Diplomat Aliyev Arrested in Vienna" , Austrian Independent, 6 June 2014
He was chief of Kazakhstan's tax police, deputy chief of the KNB state security service (Kazakhstan's successor to the Soviet KGB), ambassador to Austria, and first vice foreign minister. While serving in those government posts, Aliyev amassed a fortune in the banking, oil refining, news media, telecommunications, and agricultural commodities sectors."Kazakhstan - Corruption", GlobalSecurity.org. He was born in Almaty.
In February 2007, he was appointed to his second tour as Kazakhstan's ambassador to Austria and to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, before being relieved of his post and losing his diplomatic immunity."Kazakh Exile Rakhat Aliyev Applies for Cypriot Citizenship", Malta Times, 24 December 2013
Until June 2007, Aliyev was married to Dariga Nazarbayeva, the eldest daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
After hiding in Malta to avoid an Interpol warrant for his arrest, and attempting to gain Cypriot citizenship, Aliyev was taken into custody in June 2014 by Austrian authorities on charges that include kidnapping and murder. Austrian Times, 6 June 2014 He was jailed at the Josefstadt prison pending trial, and was placed under watch as a suicide risk."'Murderer' Ambassador Targeted in Prison" The Local, Vienna, Austria, 1 July 2014.
Aliyev, who portrayed himself as a dissident after falling out with Kazakhstan's leadership, said that he was not guilty and the charges against him were politically motivated."Austria Arrests Top Kazakh Dissident Rakhat Aliyev", BBC, 6 June 2014
Early life and education Rakhat Aliyev was born on December 10, 1962, in Almaty. He came from the kiyikshi branch of the jamanbay family of the qonyrat clan, Middle jüz.
On 7 October 1983, Aliyev married Dariga Nazarbayeva, daughter of the First Secretary of the Central Committee Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR, Nursultan Nazarbayev at the time.
Career In 1986, Aliyev became a surgeon at the Alma-Ata Medical Institute. He worked as a laboratory doctor at the Kazakh Research Institute of Surgery, and in 1986–1989 he was a clinical resident and postgraduate student at the 2nd Moscow Medical Institute. In 1989–1993 he was a senior and then leading researcher at the Kazakh Research Institute of Surgery.
In 1993, he was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the External Economic relations of the Ministry of Healthcare. From 1993, he also headed many companies, including as the Director General of the "KazMedImport" trade company under the Ministry of External economic relations (1993–1995), the Director General of the "RR Kazakhstan — Trade and Financing Ltd." Joint Venture LLP and the President of the "Sugar Center" () holdings (1995–1996).
From December 1996, he served in various tax-related authorities, also being the Head of the Department for Combating Corruption and Smuggling. Since April 1997, he was the Head of the Tax Police Department of Alma-Ata and in November 1997, he became the Director of the Tax Police Department of the Ministry of Finance. Since October 1998, he was also the Chairman of the Tax Police Committee, First Vice-Minister of State Revenues of Kazakhstan. At the same time, in 1997, he graduated from the Higher School of Law "Adilet" in the specialty "lawyer-legal scholar" and interned at the FBI Academy.
Since September 1999, he served in the structures of the National Security Committee: as head of the department for Almaty and the Almaty Region, since July 2000, he was deputy and since May 2001, he was first deputy chairman of the National Security Committee.
Since November 2001, he was Deputy Chief of the Security Service of the President of Kazakhstan. In January 2002, he became President of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan.
From June 21, 2002, to July 2005, he was the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Austria and concurrently to Serbia and Montenegro; also represented the country in the OSCE and some other international organizations accredited in Vienna. At the same time, he was the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Slovenia, Croatia, FYR Macedonia. On February 18, 2003, at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, he officially put forward a bid for Kazakhstan's chairmanship of the OSCE in 2009, but the bid did not receive support from a number of OSCE members. Kazakhstan's success in advancing its bid for the OSCE chairmanship came only after Rakhat Aliyev was removed from all posts.
Since July 2005, he was the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and simultaneously since August 2005, he was the Special Representative of Kazakhstan for Cooperation with the OSCE.
Since February 9, 2007, he was the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Austria, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the OSCE and some other international organizations in Vienna.
In different years, he also headed the Federation of Water Sports of Kazakhstan (1996–2007), the council of the Public Foundation "Formation of Tax Culture" (1997–2001), the Kazakhstan Football Federation (June 1999 – August 2007), was the first vice president of the National Association of Taxpayers of Kazakhstan (January 1998 – January 2002).
Criminal allegations
Money laundering Aliyev's money was allegedly fed into two offshore companies, A.V. Maximus SA and Argocom Ltd, both based in the British Virgin Islands. From here, the money went into A.V. Maximus Holding AG, their parent company. Reportedly, A.V Maximus SA's British Virgin Island's affiliate received €24.8 million and US$91.4 million, while Agrocom received €15.6 million. The money was the directed into Armoreal Trading GmbH and S.T.A.R.T Management consulting GmbH, among other subsidiaries. Loans between these subsidiaries were then sent to Metallwerke Bender Rhineland, some of it via ITR Information Technology GmbH. Metallwerke Bender Rhineland (MBR) then paid it back through Armoreal trading, ultimately going to A.V. Maximus SA. Money was returned to A.V. Maximus SA as a return on investments, which enabled the money to be legally wired to A&P Power Ltd via A.V. Maximus Holding AG. A&A Poweris owned by A&P Power Holdings Ltd, which is housed in Nevis.
Aliyev moved to Malta with his second wife Elnara Shorazova; the two allegedly began to dissolve and reorganize their money laundering network. MBR was sold to a Dubai-based company in March 2010. Armoreal Trading was liquidated in December 2010 while an Austrian company known as Veitlissen transferred 2.4 million Euro to A&P Power Ltd. In March 2011, A.V. Maximus Holding was sold to A&P Power Ltd and renamed Zurich Asset management.
In 2005, the investigation into this arrangement began when Wiesbaden were reportedly alerted about Armoreal Trading's suspicious loan activity. Nothing came of the complaint and the issue lay dormant until spring 2007, when three Austrian banks, Schoellerbank AG, Privitnvest Bank AG and M&A Privatbank AG, reported transactions involving Aliyev's company to the Austrian Interior Minister. The timing of these reports coincided with the divorce of Aliyev with his first wife, the daughter of the President of Kazakhstan, and his falling out of favour with the ruling family. All of his enterprises’ bank accounts were then blocked. The money originated in the late 1990s, when Aliyev was head of the tax office in Kazakhstan.
According to reports, Aliyev amassed a large fortune through defrauding a variety of companies and services while enjoying protection as son-in-law of the President, one of which was the Kazakhstani state soccer team. All of the financial interests were placed inside START Management consulting GmbH, a Viennese-based firm. Between March 2006 and January 2007, €1 million in sponsorship money disappeared from START accounts. Despite this, the contract between the two companies was renewed in early 2007 and 403,000 euros were transferred to START's account.
Treason The Kazakhstan government found Aliyev guilty of treason for attempting a coup against the Kazakh president.
Torture Aliyev allegedly tortured the two bodyguards of Akezhan Kazhegeldin to get them to confess to a coup d'état. The two men, lbrayev and Afanasenko, claimed that in April 2000, Aliyev tortured them for a total of 48 hours wanting them to confess that Kazhegeldin had been plotting a coup in Kazakhstan against Nazarbayev. According to the lawyer of the two accusers, Lothar de Maizière, they addressed law enforcement of Malta demanding a criminal case but the authorities allegedly never followed through.
Murder
Aliyev was accused of killing the Kazakh opposition leader, Altynbek Sarsenbayev in February 2006 according to Kazakh prosecutors. In December 2013, prosecutors reportedly released findings that Aliyev ordered the assassination. January 2014, the office filed a notion to start a new case against Aliyev and the former head of National Security of Kazakhstan, Alnus Masayev, related to the involvement in the opposition leader's murder as well as his bodyguard and his lawyer.
Aliyev reportedly kidnapped two managers of Nurbank in 2007; their bodies were found in 2011. In 2008, the Kazakh court convicted him in absentia of commissioning the double murders.
In addition, Aliyev reportedly also tortured and killed a 23-year-old TV presenter Anastasiya Novikova. According to reports, Novikova's family lost contact with her in 2004, but waited for three years before reporting her missing, on 26 July 2007. Letters obtained between and her family identified Aliyev as the father of her daughter. Novikova reportedly married Danijar Esten of the Kazakh Embassy in Vienna to cover for Aliyev's dalliance. The daughter was taken away from Novikova shortly after her birth.
Aliyev denied the allegations against him and said they are politically motivated."Updated: Kazakh Exile Rakhat Aliyev Denies Allegations of Torture by Former Bodyguards" Times of Malta, Valletta, 30 October 2013
Charges Aliyev fled to Austria when he was being investigated for the murder of the two Nurbank managers. Before he was arrested, he was quickly appointed the new Kazakh ambassador to Austria on 9 February 2007 as a polite way to get him out of the country. While in Austria, Aliyev announced his candidacy for the upcoming Kazakhstan elections and criticized the sitting Kazakh President, Nursultan Nazarbayev. A full domestic Kazakh investigation began in May 2007 into Aliyev's activities.
As a result, his diplomatic passport was cancelled, as was his diplomatic immunity. Kazakhstan filed its first extradition request with Austria at this time. The domestic Kazak investigation concluded in January 2008 with Kazak courts sentencing Aliyev to 40 years of imprisonment in absentia. His crimes were kidnapping, treason and plotting a coup d'état against his father-in-law Nursultan Nazarbayev.
According to reports, "Kazakhstan requested his extradition from Austria twice, but was denied on both accounts, since Austria was unsure that Aliyev would get a fair trial in his home country."
He married Austrian citizen Elnara Shorazova and enjoyed free movement throughout Europe although being investigated on fraud charges in the Austria, Germany and Malta. European Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told reporters that the investigation on fraud charges was difficult because of the different criminal legislation within the European Union countries.