Last week, the Asset Recovery Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that art objects believed to date back to the Saka period had been returned to the state’s balance sheet. The editors of Infopressa decided to find out which of the "Old Kazakhstan" oligarchs could have gotten their hands on the ancient artifacts — and who could have helped them do so.

Silence is golden

The Asset Recovery Committee, as usual, creates an aura of mystery around its activities. On August 23, it announced that “assets of unexplained origin” worth more than $10 million had been confiscated from individuals associated with one of the Kazakh oligarchs. By court order, cash, expensive jewelry, and historical and cultural heritage items that may date back to the Saka era were seized in favor of the state.

The committee never named the oligarch whose relatives had the Saki gold confiscated. The Infopressa editorial staff made an official request to the department, asking for clarification of the information, but the department, following its established tradition, decided not to expand on this matter.

“Providing more detailed information on this issue would contradict paragraph three of Article 8 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the return of illegally acquired assets to the state” (the authorized body for the return of assets is obliged to ensure the safety and confidentiality of the information received),” the committee said.

We must admit: after the department shamefully classified information about Timur Kulibayev’s assets, we did not expect any other answer. Fortunately, the committee gave enough clues so that the identity of the antiquities lover could be determined with a high degree of certainty.

Who are you, "golden" man?

The most likely candidate for the lucky owner of the Saka gold is Kairat Satybaldy , who recently received his freedom in exchange for parting with his fabulous wealth.

The Prosecutor General’s Office, which is tight-lipped about any asset recovery cases, nonetheless spoke in detail about the property confiscated from Nursultan Nazarbayev’s nephew. Its reports repeatedly mentioned "exclusive jewelry" and luxury items seized from Satybaldy. Such valuables were not mentioned in releases about asset seizures from other oligarchs.

It does not take a very rich imagination to assume that Kairat Satybaldy could have registered part of his property, including jewelry and antiques, in the names of affiliated persons. From whom, in turn, these assets were confiscated by the relevant committee. There is no 100% confirmation of this version, but it seems the most plausible, especially considering that the news about the confiscation of the Saka gold coincided in time with the publications about the seizure of assets from Satybaldy.

The second contender is the former Minister of Culture Arystanbek Mukhamediuly . He had access to museum funds and was well versed in the cost and historical value of ancient art objects. On the other hand, other property was confiscated from him, such as the building of a sports school , and not once in the reports of relevant departments related to him was the gold of the Saks mentioned. So this option looks much less likely to be true.

"  Everything points to the fact that this gold was confiscated from Kairat Satybaldy. By the way, the former Minister of Culture and later the head of one of the national museums Arystanbek Mukhamediuly could also have access to historical values. But still, society can only guess and build its own versions. This is the very notorious factor of secrecy that officials have created. For some reason, all cases of confiscation of the state and people’s property stolen by oligarchs are under a veil of secrecy. And if these cases and these oligarchs are not disclosed, I’m afraid it will not end well  ," notes social activist  Zharkyn Kurentayev  , founder of the Victims of Old Kazakhstan movement.

Black diggers and rich buyers

How could cultural heritage items worth several million dollars end up in the hands of an unknown (or rather, unnamed) oligarch? The answer is obvious: the black market.

As recently as March, President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, at a meeting of the National Kurultai, directly stated that there is a shadow market in historical artifacts in the country, and this problem needs to be addressed. He also mentioned “private Kazakhstani collections,” where important cultural values are discovered completely unexpectedly for law enforcement agencies.

"Over the past two decades, many of the most important archaeological sites in our country have been literally plundered. It has come to the point that valuable finds found on the territory of Kazakhstan are being discovered in private Kazakh and foreign collections, as well as among exhibits in various museums around the world. The situation must be urgently corrected by improving legislation in the field of archaeology, streamlining licensing, and tightening penalties for illegal archaeological excavations," said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

The Saka burial mounds are the most obvious target for illegal diggers. Recently, professional archaeologists have increasingly complained that they are being competed with by organizers of illegal excavations. At the same time, the circle of people to whom illegal diggers can turn to sell their finds is quite narrow - there are not many collectors in the country who are ready to buy items of dubious origin. It is possible that some groups of illegal archaeologists who excavate the Saka burial mounds work for specific customers.

Professional archaeologists contacted by Infopressa preferred not to answer the question of how Saka gold could have fallen into the hands of some oligarch. But they did not deny that the black market for such antiquities exists and is being replenished quite actively.

Antiquities of the Saka period could have ended up in the hands of one of the representatives of "Old Kazakhstan" in another way: in the case of the theft of museum funds. In this case, we may be talking about the activities of an entire criminal group that systematically plunders state property.

"  Most likely, people with access to national and historical artifacts were involved. Think about it, how could such national artifacts end up in a private collection? And if you remove cultural officials or museum employees from the criminal scheme, what remains is banal theft. And as far as I know, such statements have not been received from museums  ," notes  Zharkyn Kurentayev  .

Since the Asset Recovery Committee coquettishly avoids naming specific names, it is too early to make any loud statements about the participation of representatives of "Old Kazakhstan" in criminal schemes to plunder cultural heritage. But there is certainly some truth in the urban legends that influential Kazakh politicians secretly "pine away over gold" while decorating their residences with museum exhibits, the activist believes.

"As for the stories that Nursultan Nazarbayev has a real "Golden Man" in his bedroom and a fake one is on display in the museum, I don’t really believe it. But I don’t rule it out, especially knowing some reliable facts about our oligarchs and high-ranking officials,"  summed up Zharkyn Kurentaev.