The Astana police have confirmed the initiation of another criminal case related to the company Akashi Data Center, controlled by businessman of Russian origin Timur Turlov.
While the first case involved theft, the new case, like other incidents associated with Turlov’s name, once again pertains to a large-scale fraud, as reported by the agency’s correspondent.
«A criminal case has been registered on the fact of fraud on an especially large scale. Currently, a pre-trial investigation is being conducted aimed at ensuring the completeness, comprehensiveness, and objectivity in establishing the circumstances of the case», - confirmed the press service of the Astana Police Department in response to a request from the KazTAG editorial office regarding the criminal case under investigation by the police of the Nurinsky district of the capital.
On April 23, KazTAG reported that following searches at the Akashi Data Center office as part of an investigation by the Baikonyr Police Department, sources of the editorial office revealed the initiation of another criminal case on fraud on an especially large scale involving a former employee of a subcontractor construction company related to the construction of the data processing center, one of the ultimate beneficiaries of which is businessman of Russian origin Timur Turlov. This time, the crime was committed in the Nurinsky district of Astana, and the company «VestaStroyServis» is implicated. It should be noted that on the Akashi Data Center website, the same LLP «VestaStroyServis» is listed as the general contractor of the project. According to data from Kompra – a service for checking the reliability of contractors in Kazakhstan – the founder and director of «VestaStroyServis» is Vasilyev Stanislav Sergeevich, and the former founder was the company «Infrastructure of Kazakhstan», in which Stanislav Mashagin, the current head of Akashi Data Center, was listed as a founder.
Earlier, on April 19, a KazTAG source reported that on April 18, a search was conducted at the Akashi Data Center PLC office in Astana, located in Abu Dhabi Plaza. The measures were carried out as part of the investigation of a criminal case on large-scale fraud. The office was searched, and documentation related to the company’s financial and corporate activities was inspected. This information was officially confirmed by law enforcement authorities to the editorial office, specifying that the investigation is being conducted by the Baikonyr district police of Astana.
Stas Mashagin, listed as the head on the Akashi Data Center PLC website, is a business partner of Turlov. He has already been mentioned in KazTAG materials. For instance, on March 13, 2024, KazTAG reported that the Russian state corporation «Deposit Insurance Agency» (DIA) is seeking to recover losses from Turlov for the withdrawal of assets from Russia. Later, Turlov expressed bewilderment regarding the claims of the Russian agency, using the word «allegedly» in relation to the information disseminated by the DIA.
On March 18, it became known that Turlov’s assets were seized in a case concerning the withdrawal of funds from Russia. On March 20, journalist Mikhail Kozachkov reported that Stanislav Mashagin, a shareholder of the Russian JSC «Volga Capital», suspected of embezzlement at the «Association» bank, the withdrawal of whose assets from Russia is attributed to Turlov, is implementing a project in Kazakhstan together with the latter. On February 9, 2024, KazTAG reported that Turlov requested funds from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan for the Data Processing Center. This specifically referred to Akashi Data Center PLC. At that time, the beneficiaries of the company were listed as Timur Ruslanovich Turlov, Olga Sergeevna Baskakova, Stanislav Olegovich Mashagin, and Alexey Igorevich Burnashev. It was noted then that document collection was underway.
As a reminder, according to information obtained by KazTAG in mid-March, in August 2024, an internal investigation was initiated at JSC «Freedom Finance» regarding Svetovoy V., who held the position of executive director. According to the information, the investigation revealed that Svetovoy abused his position and the trust of clients, entered into personal property relationships with clients of the organization, and offered to transfer money not to the company’s accounts but personally to him, allegedly for more effective investment. According to the data, the funds obtained in this way were not used for investments but for Svetovoy’s personal needs, including the repayment of his debts. The information noted that these actions were carried out by him independently, without the knowledge of the management. As stated in the information, based on the investigation, Svetovoy was dismissed in August 2024 for discrediting circumstances. According to the data obtained by KazTAG, the investigation materials were handed over to law enforcement agencies for possible criminal prosecution. As became known on April 3, the information mentioned in this paragraph, which came into KazTAG’s possession, could largely have originated from «Freedom Finance» itself, which might have simulated the appearance of an investigation into these facts for reporting to regulatory authorities.
Journalists approached the press service of «Freedom Finance» for comments on this matter as early as March 17, but they have not yet responded to the request.
However, on March 26, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) responded to the editorial office’s request, stating that based on complaints from depositors about fraud by a top manager, they initiated an inspection of «Freedom Finance».
«Freedom Finance» is part of Freedom Holding Corp., the main shareholder of which is businessman of Russian origin Timur Turlov. It should be noted that ignoring requests on sensitive issues by the aforementioned company is becoming a regular occurrence.
On April 3, lawyer Svetlana Oralbayeva reported that dozens of people are recognized as victims in two criminal cases concerning fraud within the structure of Freedom Holding Corp. Dozens of people are victims. The full video has been published by the KazTAG editorial office. As the victims recounted, the stolen money of depositors was transferred to top managers of Freedom Finance. The lawyer believes that the fraud at Freedom could not have been committed without Turlov’s knowledge. The victims also accused Freedom’s top management of a scam involving the withdrawal of funds to an offshore and creating a financial pyramid.
Furthermore, it emerged that one of the individuals who trusted Freedom Finance top manager Vitaliy Svetovoy ultimately lost money and took his own life in Petropavlovsk (on April 11, KazTAG learned that the criminal case on the suicide was closed on January 8 – three days after the initiation of a criminal case against Svetovoy). It was revealed that Svetovoy has been in custody since January 23. It also became known that another Freedom Finance top manager became a suspect in a criminal case – this is Temerlan Bekov, the head of the investor and employee training division of Freedom Finance in Uzbekistan, whose case is under investigation by the Department of Economic Investigations (DEI) in Astana. Meanwhile, the victims in the criminal cases against Freedom’s top managers expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the investigations. At the same time, the lawyer representing the victims compared Turlov to the infamous creator of the largest financial pyramid in the history of the CIS, «MMM», Sergey Mavrodi, and accused him of withdrawing depositors’ funds from Kazakhstan to an offshore. Following these publications, on April 4, a threat was received by the KazTAG editorial office.
On the same day – April 4 – 84-year-old resident of the North Kazakhstan region, Aida Lukyanova, on behalf of pensioners, complained to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev about Turlov and urged the head of state to stop the billionaire’s activities in Kazakhstan.
On April 9, KazTAG reported that another criminal case linked to Freedom Finance was initiated – regarding the issuance of IIN (Individual Identification Numbers) to Russians. On April 12, KazTAG reported that within the framework of this criminal case, the police began an inspection.
On April 10, at a press conference in Astana, victims of Freedom Finance top managers refuted false claims by Turlov that children allegedly lost their parents’ money on the stock exchange and attempted to «corrupt» employees of his company. Notably, invited representatives of the Presidential Administration (PA), the General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO), the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM), and the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) did not attend the aforementioned press conference. At the same press conference, Petropavlovsk resident Aida Lukyanova stated that Freedom Finance top manager Vitaliy Svetovoy extorted money from her under the pretext of an inspection by the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).
It should be added that KazTAG has repeatedly reported on the possible involvement of Freedom officials in fraudulent schemes in the past.
For instance, in September 2023, KazTAG reported that a person resembling the president of Freedom Holding Corp., Askar Tashtitov, appeared in a video with a man whom those who distributed the video call Olzhas Ashikbayev, convicted in a criminal case involving $22 million. According to some reports, he earned these funds by identifying certain «bypass schemes» of FFIN Brokerage Services, but the money was taken from him, he was accused of fraud, and imprisoned. Notably, the real Tashtitov confirmed in court a meeting with Ashikbayev, who during the trial stated that the head of Freedom Holding Corp. offered him $200,000 in connection with this case. Later, KazTAG reported that two U.S. government agencies initiated an investigation against the Kazakhstani Freedom Holding. In the spring of 2024, it became known that the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) refused to approve Tashtitov’s candidacy, explaining it by the failure to address the noted issues. On April 2, KazTAG reported that ARDFM refused to approve Farhat Sarsekeev’s candidacy for the position of managing director of JSC «Bank Freedom Finance Kazakhstan» as another top manager from Freedom Holding.
On August 23, KazTAG, citing a source, reported that investigative actions were being conducted at the Freedom Broker office in Almaty regarding a case involving shares of «Kazakhtelecom» and Kcell.
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