The banking community of Kazakhstan is in the middle of a crisis. The editor of Svoboda Slova received the original letter written by Armangul Kapasheva, wife of missing chairman of NurBank Zholdas Timraliev, to President Nazarbaev. In it, Ms Kapasheva reports that Mr Timraliev has been missing since his meeting with the one of the bank’s executives (Ms G. Jumadillaeva) and Rakhat Aliev, the bank’s shareholder.

Ms Kapasheva held an emergency press briefing and sent a letter to the President, since she was worried about her husband’s well-being and life. The Nazarbaev Administration has not responded in any way so far.

Ms Kapasheva informed the public that the Board meeting held on January 18, 2007 was attended by Mr Aliev, and, shortly after, Chairman A.K. Gilimov asked Mr Timraliev to go on a business trip to Kiev, Ukraine. However, Ms Kapasheva believes he was taken to a sauna and handcuffed. There, she claims, Mr Aliev beat Mr Timraliev and kept shooting at targets but aiming at his victim and demanding data on the building of Ken Dala Business Center. Mr Aliev allegedly threatened to kill Mr Timraliev if the latter refused to contact the center owners in order to yield the building to Mr Aliev. Ms Kapasheva says her husband had to implore the owners of the business center; he was taken home the next day. Yet Mr Timraliev never came back home after meeting Mr Aliev on January 31, 2007. His wife called the police, but she says they haven’t been doing anything to find him, so she asked President Nazarbaev to respond.