Kazakh ex-leader's nephew sentenced to 6 years for embezzlement
World
Kazakh ex-leader's nephew sentenced to 6 years for embezzlement
ASTANA (Reuters) - A Kazakh court on Monday sentenced a nephew of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev to six years in prison for embezzlement, the first verdict against a close relative of the once powerful leader of the oil-rich Central Asian nation.
The court found businessman Kairat Satybaldy guilty of embezzling money from state-owned companies.
Nazarbayev resigned as president in 2019 after ruling the ex-Soviet nation for three decades, and endorsed Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as his successor. The former president, however, retained sweeping powers as the head of the country s security council.
Tokayev and Nazarbayev fell out in January when street protests over fuel price hikes escalated into the deadliest bout of political violence in the country s since it gained independence in 1991.
Tokayev took over Nazarbayev s remaining positions and a number of the former s relatives quickly left or were dismissed from senior public sector jobs.
Satybaldy, who was detained in March, has pleaded guilty and repaid over $500 million to the state as part of a plea agreement, the authorities have said.
