Rakhat Aliev

Early life and education Rakhat Aliyev was born on December 10, 1962, in Almaty. He came from the kiyikshi branch of the jamanbay family of the qonyrat clan, Middle jüz.

On 7 October 1983, Aliyev married Dariga Nazarbayeva, Kazakhstan's success in advancing its bid for the OSCE chairmanship came only after Rakhat Aliyev was removed from all posts.

Since July 2005, he was the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and simultaneously since August 2005, he was the Special Representative of Kazakhstan for Cooperation with the OSCE. Reportedly, A.V Maximus SA's British Virgin Island's affiliate received €24.8 million and US$91.4 million, while Agrocom received €15.6 million. The money was the directed into Armoreal Trading GmbH and S.T.A.R.T Management consulting GmbH, among other subsidiaries. Loans between these subsidiaries were then sent to Metallwerke Bender Rhineland, some of it via ITR Information Technology GmbH. Metallwerke Bender Rhineland (MBR) then paid it back through Armoreal trading, ultimately going to A.V. Maximus SA. Money was returned to A.V. Maximus SA as a return on investments, which enabled the money to be legally wired to A&P Power Ltd via A.V. Maximus Holding AG. A&A Poweris owned by A&P Power Holdings Ltd, which is housed in Nevis.

Aliyev moved to Malta with his second wife Elnara Shorazova; the two allegedly began to dissolve and reorganize their money laundering network. MBR was sold to a Dubai-based company in March 2010. Armoreal Trading was liquidated in December 2010 while an Austrian company known as Veitlissen transferred 2.4 million Euro to A&P Power Ltd. In March 2011, A.V. Maximus Holding was sold to A&P Power Ltd and renamed Zurich Asset management.

In 2005, the investigation into this arrangement began when Wiesbaden were reportedly alerted about Armoreal Trading's suspicious loan activity.

Torture Aliyev allegedly tortured the two bodyguards of Akezhan Kazhegeldin to get them to confess to a coup d'état. The two men, lbrayev and Afanasenko, claimed that in April 2000, Aliyev tortured them for a total of 48 hours wanting them to confess that Kazhegeldin had been plotting a coup in Kazakhstan against Nazarbayev.

Murder

Aliyev was accused of killing the Kazakh opposition leader, Altynbek Sarsenbayev in February 2006 according to Kazakh prosecutors. In December 2013, prosecutors reportedly released findings that Aliyev ordered the assassination. January 2014, the office filed a notion to start a new case against Aliyev and the former head of National Security of Kazakhstan, Alnus Masayev, related to the involvement in the opposition leader's murder as well as his bodyguard and his lawyer.

In addition, Aliyev reportedly also tortured and killed a 23-year-old TV presenter Anastasiya Novikova. According to reports, Novikova's family lost contact with her in 2004, but waited for three years before reporting her missing, on 26 July 2007. Letters obtained between and her family identified Aliyev as the father of her daughter. Novikova reportedly married Danijar Esten of the Kazakh Embassy in Vienna to cover for Aliyev's dalliance. The daughter was taken away from Novikova shortly after her birth.

Aliyev denied the allegations against him and said they are politically motivated.

Charges Aliyev fled to Austria when he was being investigated for the murder of the two Nurbank managers. Before he was arrested, he was quickly appointed the new Kazakh ambassador to Austria on 9 February 2007 as a polite way to get him out of the country. While in Austria, Aliyev announced his candidacy for the upcoming Kazakhstan elections and criticized the sitting Kazakh President, Nursultan Nazarbayev. A full domestic Kazakh investigation began in May 2007 into Aliyev's activities.

According to reports, in November 2013 Aliyev tried to open a bank account in Cyprus with an invalid account which alerted authorities. The following January, two members of the European Parliament made public calls to the European Commissioner to get Eurojust and Europol to assist with the ongoing criminal investigations.

In 2013, Aliyev's Austrian passport was canceled by the decision of Austrian Minister of Interior. His lawyer confirmed the arrest and said it took place at 11pm on 5 June 2014 on his way to the airport. According to their website, the project is “an informal international social networking project” with "no formal organizational affiliation.” Aliyev denounced the Justice for Novikova protesters as agents of the Kazakh secret services.

Victimization Aliyev denied all charges against him. According to reports, he claimed that he was prosecuted by the Kazakh government and think people after him are "in bed with Kazakhstan." He also said in the same interview that all the charges were "made up primarily by the leadership of the National Security Committee, the prosecutor general, the interior minister, and the whole power bloc of ministries.

Skype calls However, according to Die Presse newspaper, Austrian authorities found Skype calls that undermine his claims. The obtained calls allegedly discussed the disappearance of the two Nurbank bank managers and the location of the bodies. In addition, his alibi during their disappearance was reportedly also discussed. Aliyev's sidekick Musayev, the ex- KNB chief, was also sentenced to 20 years of prison term. Aliyev and Musayev were found guilty under the following articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan: Article 168, Section 1 "Seizure of power through violence," Article 235, Section 4 "Formation and heading of an organized criminal group," Article 172, Section 4 "Illegal acquisition, disclosure of state secrets," Article 176, Section 3 "Embezzlement of some other's property," Article 251, Section 3 "Illegal trafficking of arms, ammunition and explosives," Article 255, Section 4 "Stealing of ammunition and explosives" as well as Article 380, Section 2 "Abuse of powers."

On 17 June 2011, the Vienna Provincial Court for Criminal Matters rejected a second request for extradition by Kazakhstan because it was not free from doubt that Mr Aliyev would not be persecuted on political grounds in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan requested extradition to enforce the previously rendered convictions by the Almaty district court and the Akmola Military Court (see above).

In 2013, Aliyev published a book Godfather-in-law, in which he accused Nazarbayev of being responsible for the murders of the opposition leaders.

"Today I received the information where it says I am divorced," Aliyev said Monday. "They stuck a fax with the information through the fence at my home at a quarter past midnight. ... They even falsified my signature on the document."

Aliyev had three children with Nazarbayev's eldest daughter, Dariga. "I spoke to my wife on the telephone," Aliyev said, showing papers saying his wife had asked for the divorce. "She said: 'My father pressured me very much,' and she couldn't do anything."

Their son Aisultan Nazarbaev (; 26 August 1990 – 16 August 2020) became an outspoken critic of Nursultan Nazarbayev. He stated that he did not inherit his father's wealth because his father's wealth was stolen by Dariga and Alnur Mussayev also spelled Alnur Musaev . Nurali Aliyev was named in the Panama Papers as having vast amounts of wealth held in offshore companies through Alba International and the Baltimore Alliance which are registered in the British Virgin Islands. In the spring of 2020, a United Kingdom court in London ordered him to prove the legal origin of over $100 million of his wealth associated with three firms registered in Panama, Netherlands Antilles, and Anguilla. He is married to Aida Berikovna (; b. 1984) who is the daughter of Berik Imashev.

On 23 June 2018, their daughter Venus (; b. 2001) married Dalen Chaizhunusov (; b. 1995–1996, Almaty), a graduate of the Law Faculty at the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Aliyev married his assistant, Elnara Shorazova, who held an Austrian passport, and assumed the masculine form of her surname, Shoraz, as his own name. The two fled to Malta, where the Maltese government seized their assets in connection with European money-laundering allegations in March 2014. Aliyev surrendered to Austrian authorities in June 2014. He and Elnara have a son. Rakhat Aliyev was found dead in the solitary cell of his Vienna prison. According to the official, Aliyev apparently committed suicide by hanging himself. However, his attorney, Klaus Ainedter, said he was highly suspicious of the death and expected a thorough investigation. "I have significant doubts about this without wanting to blame anyone. I visited him yesterday. There could be no talk whatsoever of danger of suicide," Ainedter said. The Federal Ministry of Justice (Austria) has officially confirmed the fact of Rakhat Aliyev's suicide in his prison cell. Thereafter Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan reported that the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Kazakhstan insisted on their participation in the investigation into the death of Aliyev. A 2016 independent report ruled out suicide and noted that his body showed traces of suffocation.

Political views In 2006, Aliyev called for the creation of a “British-style” constitutional monarchy in Kazakhstan, believing it would bring stability and liberal democracy to the nation. Aliyev argued that in adopting a republican form of government when it gained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed, Kazakhstan defied its traditions.