23 January 2025 , 12:47
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Azim Roy entered public awareness in late 2023 after Kyrgyzstan’s State Security Committee announced an international search for him, but the investigation was unexpectedly abandoned shortly after.
In the interim between these events, information became public that Azim Roy preferred not to advertise. If you go to Azim Roy’s personal website and read his biography, tears of emotion come to your eyes - an orphan from a remote Kyrgyz village became an American investor and international businessman. And naturally, he achieved everything through his own work. How else? Naturally, Azim Roy modestly keeps silent about certain details of his biography that spoil the bright image of a "self-made man." In fact, he really did make himself. However, this process is very little related to honest work and integrity.
But, by and large, criminal capital and involvement in an organized crime group in the countries of the former USSR do not surprise anyone. Nor does the fact that crime is closely connected with power and special services. The sensation caused by the announcement of Azim Roy’s search and the equally sudden cancellation of this search would have been safely forgotten if not for the hero himself. For some reason, he suddenly decided to erase all mentions of his real biography from the internet. And he came up with nothing smarter than achieving this with threats - in recent months, publications and journalists writing about Azim Roy’s case and simultaneously exploring his biography began receiving letters from him with threats and demands to delete publications. Apparently, Mr. Roy has not heard of the "Streisand Effect." Because instead of the desired result, he received the completely opposite effect - they started writing about the long-forgotten case and the equally forgotten details of his biography again.
Why Azim Roy was declared wanted and why the case was closed
The State Committee of National Security of Kyrgyzstan declared Azim Roy internationally wanted on charges of financing an organized crime group. Roy was called the "godfather" of the Kyrgyz crime lord Kamchy Kolbayev, who was killed shortly before that during detention.
In relation to Azim Roy, within the framework of criminal case No. 03-825-2023-000137, initiated in the fall of 2023, accusations were put forward of seizing six thousand square meters in the Arstan Tower business center in Bishkek, valued at 10 million dollars; laundering criminal proceeds through front companies; illegally seizing several land plots in Bishkek where commercial objects were built; financing a criminal community, and so on.
However, the case was closed in May 2024. And - due to rehabilitating circumstances, that is, "due to the absence of a crime." True, before this, Azim Roy transferred several real estate objects to "state revenue" and transferred some sum. In total - about 13 million dollars. After that, the case was closed, and the sale and purchase deals of some assets were recognized as “market and legal”. In this regard, it is worth recalling that in 2022 Azim Roy already provided "sponsorship assistance" to the SCNS - he transferred 22 million 596 thousand soms to these fighters against crime.
Whether this assistance was a one-time event or whether Azim Roy makes such "contributions" on a regular basis is unknown. But apparently, the experience of sponsoring the state security committee was very helpful to Azim Roy in the case of the criminal case in question.
Why the scandal arose
However, the scandal around Roy’s name and the criminal case arose not because of this - such "gifts" have long ceased to surprise anyone in the country. The scandal erupted because, right in the midst of loud statements by law enforcement, a photo was helpfully leaked online, showing Azim Roy in the company of Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov and his relative, Jogorku Kenesh deputy Akylbek Tumonbayev. Moreover, the photo is clearly informal, so all attempts by the president’s entourage to disavow the fact of close acquaintance with Azim Roy look rather pathetic.
At the same time, it turned out that Azim Roy gave either directly to the president or to his administration two Chevrolet Suburban jeeps, which immediately appeared in the president’s motorcade. But that’s not all - it turns out Azim Roy is a sponsor of various Kyrgyz ministries, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for which he received a medal from the minister "In Honor of the 95th Anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s Police."
How this aligns with so-called "notions," which it turns out are of great importance in the life of Azim Roy, who has at least one conviction, is unknown. However, the reaction to all this disgrace of a former policeman who spent his life fighting Azim Roy and people like him is known.
We will leave the words of the former Secretary of the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan, General of Police Omurbek Suvanaliyev, without comment. But it is simply necessary here to at least briefly recall the real biography of Azim Roy. The one he does not advertise, and the one he is trying to remove from public access by threats.
The real biography of Azim Roy
Azim Roy was indeed born in the remote village of Chaldovar in the Panfilov district of Chuy region. He studied in an orphanage. Whether he graduated "with honors," as Azim Roy himself claims, is unknown. But the other school of life - prison, where he ended up in 1981 for seven years for illegal possession of firearms, assault, speculation, and drug possession - Azim Roy clearly graduated with honors. He was also charged with involvement in the murder of the then Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz SSR, Sultan Ibraimov, but nothing could be proven. So the question remains open.
Azim Roy was released from prison after serving his term and returned to his native Kyrgyzstan. Where very quickly - in 1995 - his criminal record was expunged, and in 1998 it was entirely annulled. How this expungement and annulment was managed is also an open question. But thanks to the "prison universities," Azim Roy established good connections with Aslan Usoyan (Ded Hasan) and Vyacheslav Ivankov (Yaponchik).
After the expungement of his criminal record, Azim Roy essentially became Azim Roy - as he was born under the name Orozakhun Saidazimov, which he changed before leaving for the United States. In the States, the newly-minted Roy engaged in "investment business" and bought a house in Florida for more than 1.27 million dollars. Whether the now-deceased Ivankov was involved in this "business" is unknown.
However, it is known that in 2001 Roy was arrested in Florida for concealing his criminal record when filling out documents for a visa at the US embassy. In 2008, the charges were dropped. However, he failed to obtain citizenship, so Azim Roy went to Russia, where he received a passport and engaged in business. According to registries, he is an individual entrepreneur and founder of two firms - LLC "Crosspoint Management" and LLC "Soyuzstroy." But judging by the reports, things are going poorly in Azim Roy’s official business - the companies are drowning in debts and lawsuits.
However, Azim Roy has enough money for the SCNS, the state of Kyrgyzstan, jeeps for the presidential motorcade, and many other good deeds with which he tries to whitewash his reputation. The recipients of this money have no entirely logical questions about their origin. And while there are no such concerns with the orphanage sponsored by Roy, there are concerns with the SCNS. However, as everyone understands, these questions are purely rhetorical.
Moreover, Azim Roy’s name surfaced in international scandals as well. In 2021, investigative journalists from OCCRP identified his name among the depositors in the Swiss Credit Suisse. The investigation was conducted regarding money held in this bank by criminals and corrupt officials from around the world, and Roy’s name appeared alongside others. He had an account in Credit Suisse from 1997 to 2013, and the maximum amount on this account reached 11.6 million dollars. Where the money came from - the bank didn’t ask.
In this investigation, the name of one of the most famous crime bosses of Kyrgyzstan, Kamchy Kolbayev, also surfaced. Journalists named Azim Roy as one of Kolbayev’s financiers. However, this scandal did not prevent Roy from receiving a medal from the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, nor the president of the country from sitting with Azim Roy on a couch and being photographed in a home setting. Who leaked this photo to public access is still unknown. Just as it is unknown what role Azim Roy now plays in the group of the late Kamchy Kolbayev. But he clearly has not left business and crime.