ASTANA, February 27. /TASS/. The Kazakh Prosecutor General's Office has launched an investigation into potential links between local former officials and US financier Jeffrey Epstein, including his possible contacts with former Prime Minister and former National Security Committee Chairman Karim Massimov.
"Both the Prosecutor General's Office and other departmental bodies are investigating these facts, whether they occurred or not," Prosecutor General Berik Asylov told reporters. In response to a question about efforts to establish Epstein's possible ties with Massimov, he said: "We have begun a preliminary investigation."
The prosecutor general pointed out that an investigation is also underway into Epstein's possible past visit to Kazakhstan.
On February 25, lawmakers representing the Nationwide Social Democratic Party in the Majilis (lower house) of the Kazakh parliament sent a request to the Prosecutor General's Office and the National Security Committee asking them to investigate potential cooperation between the country's former high-ranking officials and Epstein, as well as to verify media reports about his visits to Kazakhstan.
The request noted that Masimov, who is currently serving a sentence for treason and attempted seizure of power, is mentioned in the records at least eight times, and it follows from them that Epstein and Masimov were personally acquainted. At a Majilis meeting, lawmaker Askhat Rakhimzhanov noted that "the fact that Epstein and Kairat Kelimbetov (former chairman of the National Bank - TASS) vacationed together in New York drew the attention of foreign media."
Epstein was arrested by New York State law enforcement agencies on July 6, 2019. Prosecutors said there was evidence that between 2002 and 2005, he arranged for dozens of underage girls, the youngest of whom was 14, to visit his home in Manhattan. Epstein's circle of friends and acquaintances included current and former officials from the US and many other countries, including former heads of state, as well as major entrepreneurs and show business stars. Criminal proceedings against the financier in the US were terminated after he took his own life in his prison cell in August 2019.