Timur Turlov and Freedom Holding: A financial pyramid disguised as investments?
Turlov, often regarded as Kazakhstan’s youngest dollar billionaire, represents a figure of the new generation, though his wealth stems from the most "old-school" methods.
But the approach is new: the oligarchy has abandoned the naive idea of the Nazarbayev era. Instead of purely nominal owners, it cultivates charismatic media figures, with a beard like a railroad confidence trickster, a polished reputation, without any prominent past or preferences. Timur Turlov, a native of Tatarstan and a semi-nominal figure of Freedom Finance, fits perfectly the role previously played by Bulat Utemuratov.
In a press release, Freedom Holding Corp., via the newspaper "Caravan," briefly presented the results of the audit and refuted some aspects of the investigation. However, Turlov’s clients and the general public cannot study the analysis and its details, as the company cited confidentiality concerns. It is officially reported only that the audit was conducted by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, and Forensic Risk Alliance; both companies are little-known legal firms with rather dubious reputations.
It should be noted that the decision to conceal the audit report, citing confidentiality, is an unprecedented practice, and it appears to be an agreement between parties. The audit report cannot contain bank or other secrets, hence it can be concluded that the report data so discredit the activities of Timur Turlov and his company that the document was decided to be hidden from the public.
Why is Timur Turlov a scammer?
Let us recall that the extensive investigation by "Hindenburg Research" was published back in August 2023, and its authors claimed that they interviewed former employees of Freedom Holding Corp., studied international documents, conducted industry analysis, and concluded that Freedom Holding, which got rid of its Russian business in 2022, evades sanctions, and its founder Timur T.R. still secretly controls the Russian business, falsifies revenue data, conducts risky operations with clients’ funds, and manipulates the market when it comes to the value of the company’s own securities. After the investigation, the quotations of Freedom Holding Corp. of Timur Turlov fell by 8%, but later recovered the drop.
Meanwhile, the activities of Freedom Holding have long enough resembled a financial pyramid, and despite all attempts to create the image of a large international business, Turlov’s only real asset is the numerous Ukrainians, Russians, Kazakhstanians, and also people from other post-Soviet countries who entrusted their money to Turlov’s structures hoping to earn from the purchase of securities or IPO shares. Timur Ruslanovich Turlov admits that this Freedom Holding’s activity does not arouse interest in the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARRFM) of Kazakhstan — the ARRFM has never studied the activities of Turlov’s Russian business segment, which in the form of LLC "Tsifra Broker" was sold by him to his own employee Maxim Povalishin, one of the founders of Freedom Holding Corp., over whom Timur Ruslanovich Turlov practically retains full control.
One of the proofs that the Kazakhstani billionaire of Russian origin Timur Turlov still operates in Russia, but under the new brand of LLC "Tsifra Broker," is the fact that LLC "Tsifra Broker," like Freedom Holding Corp., conducts foreign transactions through Belize, apparently using in this jurisdiction a common affiliate company FFIN Brokerage Services Inc. for both LLC "Tsifra Broker" and Freedom Holding Corp., and the refusal to publish audit data might also indicate that Turlov continues to assist in the legalization of corruption funds of the family of Kazakhstan’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The secretive schemer Timur Ruslanovich Turlov at the service of the mafia
It is known that one of Turlov’s patrons in Kazakhstan is considered to be the Kazakhstani oligarch Bulat Utemuratov, known for his closeness to Nazarbayev. Moreover, Turlov was involved in the implementation of a number of socially significant projects associated with the family of the former president, in particular, after the arrest of another Kazakhstani oligarch Kairat Boranbayev, it was Turlov who financed the Almaty football club "Kairat" and was appointed a member of the executive committee of the Kazakhstan Football Federation. He allocated funds for a football tournament in honor of the late nephew of Nazarbayev, Aisultan Nazarbayev, with prizes being personally awarded by Dariga Nazarbayeva.
Notably, the press release by Freedom Holding Corp. with a brief presentation of the audit results was published precisely through the newspaper "Caravan" — a media asset controlled by Dariga Nazarbayeva. Furthermore, another media asset of the family of Kazakhstan’s first president, which has already passed under the control of Turlov — "Channel 7", which was previously financed and controlled by the Kazakhstani oligarch Alexander Klebanov — the trusted person of Dariga Nazarbayeva, was used for the same purpose.
Currently, the main sphere of Turlov’s activities appears to be the legalization of funds of the family of Kazakhstan’s first president through the investment group LLC IC "Freedom Finance" and the "parent company" Freedom Holding Corp., through which the funds of representatives of the political and business elite of the so-called "old Kazakhstan" have been withdrawn by Timur Ruslanovich Turlov or even continue to be withdrawn from the country, as well as the legalization of funds of representatives of the sanctioned Russian political and business elite.
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