NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan's Financial Monitoring Agency says a lawsuit filed by the owners of the financial services company Karuan accuses former President Nursultan Nazarbaev's younger brother of illegally taking over the firm.
According to a June 21 statement from the agency, Almaty City Prosecutor's Office accepted the lawsuit and are currently processing it. They will then decide on whether to launch a probe against Bolat Nazarbaev,.
The agency did not say who filed the suit, but local media reports said that businessman Nursha Kakenov was the initiator of the case against Bolat Nazarbaev and his former wife, Maira Qurmanghalieva.
Bolat Nazarbaev, 69, fled Kazakhstan in the wake of anti-government protests in early January and is believed to be in Dubai.
Nursultan Nazarbaev, 81, and his clan lost power and influence after the January protests that left at least 230 people dead and thousands injured.
Nazarbaev resigned as president in 2019, picking long-time ally Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev as his successor. But he retained sweeping powers as the head of the Security Council, enjoying authority as elbasy -- the leader of the nation. Many of his relatives continued to hold important posts in the government, security agencies, and profitable energy groups.
In January, protests that started over a fuel price hike spread across Kazakhstan because of discontent over the cronyism that had long plagued the country. Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of the Security Council role, taking it over himself.
Just days after the protests, Nazarbaev's two sons-in-law, Qairat Sharipbaev and Dimash Dosanov, were pushed out of top jobs at two major state companies, QazaqGaz and KazTransOil, respectively.
Since then, several other relatives and those close to the family have been pushed out of their positions or they have resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges.
Earlier in June, a Toqaev-initiated referendum amended the constitution, removing all mentions of Nazarbaev in it.