Alijan Ibragimov

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Alijan Ibragimov (also known as Alidjan or Alidzhon Ibragimov) is a Kyrgyzstan-born Muslim oligarch who is a member of a well-known circle of oligarchs in Kazakhstan known as the “Trio.” The “Trio” comprises Ibragimov and his business partners, Alexander Mashkevich and Patokh Chodiev, who made their billions by asset-stripping in the mining/metals, oil, gas, and banking sectors in Kazakhstan. Ibragimov has ranked #382 on Forbes’ list of world billionaires. [1] A Wall Street Journal article is but one source which has linked the Trio to money laundering schemes involving Kazakh officials, as well as Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. [2]. In addition to their involvement in money laundering, Ibragimov and the Trio are also charged with fraud and criminal association. Ongoing Belgian investigations into numerous allegations of the Trio’s criminal activities have culminated in the recent freezing of the Trio’s assets in the Isle of Jersey. [3] Ibragimov himself is embroiled in three investigations in Belgium involving money laundering, forgery, fraud, and criminal association. [4] The Trio is also being questioned for possible association with the murder of Nazarbayev’s political opponents. [5], [6], [7] Ibragimov is a co-owner of ENRC, a large Swiss-based mining and metals group, which operates a number of metals assets in Kazakhstan and has acquired, through dubious transactions, numerous mining operations in eastern Europe and Africa. Last year, ENRC generated an $800 million profit on sales of $2.9 billion. Taken public, it might command a market value of $6 billion. [8] According to a 2006 Forbes magazine report [9], ENRC is slated for a 2007 London AIM initial public offering, despite the ongoing Belgian prosecutions of its major shareholders—Mashkevich, Chodiev, and Ibragimov. A successful IPO would help the corrupt corporation gain some legitimacy in the West.