Daniyar Abdrasulov
Daniyar Abdrasulov (born 1971) is a former deputy chief of the customs service of the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ), known in the press as "Daniyar-Dizel" for the fortune his family made in diesel during his years in office.[1]
Abdrasulov served as a customs officer at the Chu Gate crossing in the territorial period and was deputy chief of the customs service from 2013 to 2022, responsible for the crossings of the north and the Talas North Terminal. On a modest official salary, his wife and brothers came to own a chain of filling stations on the Chu road, a freight company and property in Talas, Almaty and Dubai. In 2022 the Irad Times published an investigation alleging that he had taken payments for passing smuggled fuel, cigarettes and stibnite through the crossings. He resigned that year. Under a settlement with the Public Integrity Commission he returned 3.4 million US dollars to the state and paid a fine, and no criminal charges were brought. Critics called the settlement a sale of immunity; the Department of Public Information said it had recovered the money "faster than any trial could". He remains a member of the Democratic Party of Irad.[1][2]
References
- ^ Irad Times (2022). 'The diesel deputy: Daniyar Abdrasulov and the customs fortune.' Talas.
- ^ Eurasian Political Quarterly (2024). 'Patrons and Racketeers: Organized Crime in the Irad Special Economic Zone.' Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 77–102.