Swindler and secret beneficiary Galimzhan Yessenov conceals his operations via Jusan Bank and is diligently removing online traces of his identity
In October, Galimzhan Yessenov was once again included in Forbes.kz’s ranking of Kazakhstan’s most influential entrepreneurs.
The 41-year-old businessman Galimzhan Yessenov became the majority owner of Jusan Bank in August, reports the Telegram channel @Shishkin_like. However, the terms of the deal with Jusan Technologies Ltd. have not been made public. The story of Jusan Group’s return to Kazakh jurisdiction has been covered in detail elsewhere.
During the summer, Yessenov also appeared among the owners of two more Kazakh companies – all of them linked to the scandal-prone entrepreneur and popular coach Margulan Seysembayev.
First, the businessmen now officially co-own the poultry giant “Alel Agro.” According to the latest company reports, both Yessenov and Seysembayev became affiliated persons of the company on August 8 of this year.
Margulan Kalievich and his wife manage their shares through private companies Seimar Ltd and Agros Ltd. Yessenov, most likely, owns his shares directly, as no other legal entities are listed as affiliated persons of “Alel Agro.”
It is worth noting that over the past five years – from 2018 to 2022 – the company received state subsidies totaling just over 19 billion tenge.
Second, since July 31 of this year, Yessenov has personally been one of the owners of the poultry farm “Asyl Qus Agro.” On the same date, Seysembayev also holds a share through his private company Seimar Ltd. The 2.4 billion tenge farm was launched in 2016, having received a 1.3 billion tenge government loan.
Earlier, we detailed other components of Yessenov’s business empire (part one, part two).
Yessenov and Asadel
In 2015, Seysembayev announced the establishment of his own private equity fund, Asadel Partners PEF (registered in the UAE). Yessenov’s connections to the fund were never officially reported; his involvement as an investor was mentioned only by anonymous online sources.
In 2016, Asadel Partners PEF acquired a 30% stake in “Alel Agro.”
In March of this year, the Singapore-registered fund exited as a major shareholder of the company. The fund was removed from the list of affiliated persons only by October 1 – in this updated list, Yessenov, as well as companies owned by Seysembayev and his wife, appeared.
We obtained an extract from the Singapore register, which shows that today Asadel Partners PEF has six owners: Margulan and Saule Seysembayev, Erik Sultankulov, Anastasia Sulger, Narwal Ltd., and Fabiano Ltd.
It could not be established from open sources whether Yessenov is connected to Fabiano Ltd., registered in the UAE. However, Narwal Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands, is indeed linked to the businessman according to the Pandora Papers – he was at least its ultimate owner in the past.
Asadel’s assets in Kazakhstan include:
The private school network Tamos Education;
The factory for soy, soybean meal, and soybean oil production “Uyz Mai Industry” – built under the state industrialization program;
The compound feed plant “Agro Fit Kapshagay”;
The agricultural project Amal Bio (growing and selling apples and vegetables);
The investment fund Asadel Partners – owns LLP “AmalBio” and the agricultural cooperative “Zhetysu Baktary.”
Автор: Иван Рокотов
