Timur Turlov backed by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: a plan to bypass sanctions via Freedom Finance and the laundering of billions from Russia

Timur Turlov backed by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: a plan to bypass sanctions via Freedom Finance and the laundering of billions from Russia

Last year, Timur Turlov, founder of Freedom Holding Corp., became a citizen of Kazakhstan, giving up his St. Kitts and Nevis passport in the process.

Even at the time, many questioned the logic of this move – why would Turlov risk taking the nationality of a country where he had already shifted most of his opaque business operations? His explanation, claiming that he “fell in love with Kazakhstan fifteen years ago upon first arriving,” seems unconvincing, especially since obtaining the Kazakh passport required renouncing not only his Russian citizenship but also the St. Kitts and Nevis passport he had purchased for $300,000 under the so-called “citizenship by investment” program.

However, after Tokayev personally handed Turlov his Kazakh passport, the situation began to clarify. In Kazakhstan, Timur Turlov has concentrated the core activities of his Freedom Finance, which provides brokerage, depository, and dealer services. As Turlov himself claims, it is in Kazakhstan that “the majority of his clients, who use the services of his company specializing in the American securities market, are based.”

Partly, this is true. But the majority of clients who are “concentrated in Kazakhstan” are Russians, clients of Turlov’s holding company Freedom Holding Corp., which is essentially a “laundry” for dirty money. Initially, this structure was designed specifically for laundering Russian money, with its primary operations focused in Russia.

Here, he operated through the investment company “Freedom Finance” and the bank “Freedom Finance,” which, under the pressure of sanctions, he was forced to “sell” last year. The new “owners” of the Russian part of the business are Turlov’s business partners, though formally he has no connection to them.

In Kazakhstan, Turlov operates a branch of the investment group Freedom Holding Corp., registered in the USA and conducting activities in Kazakhstan through JSC “Freedom Finance,” which is the sole shareholder of JSC “Bank Freedom Finance Kazakhstan” (formerly Kassa Nova Bank), JSC “Insurance Company ‘Freedom Finance Insurance’,” and JSC “Life Insurance Company ‘Freedom Finance Life’.”

However, all these actions did not help him escape sanctions – Timur Turlov remains on Ukraine’s sanctions list.

Reasonable people understand – the fact that only Ukraine has imposed sanctions on Turlov means that no one from the civilized world will do business with him. For two reasons. First, following Ukraine, these sanctions could be adopted by all its Western partners, led by the USA. Second, anyone dealing with Turlov risks falling under these sanctions themselves. And when this might happen, no one knows, and there are no volunteers willing to find out the hard way.

Thus, Turlov faced the task – to get rid of the sanctions at a stage when they are imposed only by Ukraine. And this is where the mystery of obtaining Kazakh citizenship begins to unravel.

Over the past year, Timur Turlov has become one of the wealthiest citizens of Kazakhstan, simultaneously becoming one of the most influential residents of the country. Timur Turlov’s net worth is currently estimated at 3.1 billion dollars. In one year in Kazakhstan, he earned 900 million dollars.

Timur Turlov is regularly featured on local television in the company of Kazakhstan’s highest officials, and he has headed the local chess federation. Notably, he received this position directly from Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev, which carries significant weight in Kazakhstan’s hierarchy.

He has also started visiting regions of the country on working visits alongside Kazakhstan’s leadership. This raised questions – reports of Timur Turlov’s working visits, despite his official status being limited to the rather nominal position of head of the chess federation, were written with reverence, giving his persona far more attention than state officials received.

The intrigue didn’t last long. It turned out that Timur Turlov had become a figure in the inner circle of Kazakhstan’s President Tokayev. This was understandable – Turlov’s structures have taken on the task of channeling the funds of Kazakh elites to the West and subsequently laundering them. But it went further – at Tokayev’s behest, emissaries were sent to Ukraine to request President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to lift the sanctions on Turlov.

According to the channel base.kz, Zelenskyy has long been asked to remove sanctions from the new Kazakh oligarch – several corresponding appeals have been sent to the Office of the President of Ukraine. However, since relations between official Kyiv and Astana are quite complicated, unofficial emissaries have also been sent to Zelenskyy.

For instance, Aidyn Rakhimbayev, one of Tokayev’s close associates and at the same time a close partner of Timur Turlov, recently visited Kyiv. During his visit, the “great winner of all Kazakh tenders,” as he is called in his homeland, promised financial assistance to one of Ukraine’s hospitals, hinting that it would be provided immediately once the sanctions on Timur Turlov are lifted.

In principle, Kyiv could meet the wishes of Kazakh oligarchs if the issue concerned only Kazakhs. But Turlov’s problem in this regard is that in Kazakhstan, he serves not only, and not primarily, Kazakhs. By his own admission, Kazakhstan has turned into a financial Switzerland for Russians.

Wealthy Russians, whose capitals continue to be serviced by Turlov’s structures, can obtain bank cards through him, doing so remotely without the need to visit Kazakhstan. Those who are wealthier continue to purchase shares in Western companies, bypassing sanctions.

But the stumbling block remains the sanctions from Ukraine, which at any moment could escalate into sanctions from the entire Western world. Therefore, Timur Turlov is making every effort to persuade Zelenskyy to lift them. So far, Tokayev’s emissaries have not succeeded, but the key word here is precisely “so far.”