Bloomberg reported that the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan has sued a former mayor in a California court for looting $300 million for himself by selling state-owned real estate. Former mayor Viktor Khrapunov allegedly funneled the proceeds of the real estate sale to Switzerland and the US.
The complaint that was filed today in a Los Angeles federal court indicated that the Kazahk city is following the money trail purportedly coming from Khrapunov's looted funds. The plaintiff claimed that the former mayor's children and their spouses have used the funds that was stolen from the city of Almaty to purchase real estate properties in the Los Angeles area. The properties that were acquired using the stolen money included a $6.2 million home in Beverly Hills and a $5.7 million, 2-acre estate in Studio City. The complaint also mentioned a lease Rolls Royce and Bentley sedans.
The city of Almaty is pursuing racketeering and fraud charges against Khrapunov and his family, and is looking to obtain restitution as well as triple damages due to the wrongdoing.
Bloomberg said Khrapunov had left his home country and fled to Switzerland in 2007. The city of Almaty claimed that its former mayor and his wife had used rigged auctions in order to acquire state-owned real estate properties at artificially-suppressed prices, and eventually sold them at markup for a profit. The city has also charged Khrapunov in Kazahkstan with public property theft.
Bloomberg did not receive any response from Khrapunov to a request for comment about the US case. His website said however that the former mayor had left Kazahkstan in 2007 to get medical treatment abroad, but it fell short to saying what the treatment was for. Khrapunov had served Almaty as the mayor of the largest city in Kazahkstan for almost eight years beginning June 1997 to December 2004.
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