Kazakhstan detains heads of Samruk-Kazyna and national railway on corruption suspicion as video of cash thrown from Astana window spreads

Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (KNB) said it detained Nurlan Zhakupov, chairman of the management board of the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund, and Yelzhas Otynshiyev, head of national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), on November 11 on suspicion of a corruption offence. According to Interfax-Kazakhstan, the committee said investigative work was under way to establish all the circumstances of the case. No further details of the pre-trial investigation have been released.

Video of cash thrown from a window

At the same time, videos spread online showing bags of cash being thrown from a high floor of the Atlant residential complex at 5 Kunayev Street in Astana. Residents told Kursiv.media that on the morning of November 12 eight bags filled with money fell from around the 12th floor, scattering banknotes across the courtyard. Meduza reported that some Kazakh and Russian media put the sum at $80 million, but that figure has not been officially confirmed.

KTZ's office is near the complex, and social media users have linked the two events, but law enforcement agencies have not commented and authorities have not officially confirmed any connection. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

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Footage of the "dollar rain" in Astana also spread among Mongolian users, many of whom linked it to the arrests.