NUR-SULTAN -- A nephew of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev is a person of interest in an unspecified criminal case, the deputy chairman of the Committee of National Security (KNB) has said.
Asqar Amirkhanov added that Samat Abish had been questioned by KNB investigators but did not specify if he was currently in custody.
Abish, 43, was dismissed as KNB deputy chief in January days after mass anti-government protests turned violent, leaving at least 230 people dead in the former Soviet Central Asian republic.
Following the protests, Abish's boss, one of Nazarbaev's closest associates, KNB Chairman Karim Masimov, and his three other deputies were arrested on high-treason charges.
Amirkhanov's announcement about Abish came one day after the Financial Monitoring Agency said a lawsuit had been filed by the owners of a financial-services company against Nursultan Nazarbaev's younger brother, Bolat Nazarbaev, accusing him of illegally taking over the firm. The 69-year-old Bolat Nazarbaev is believed to be in Dubai.
Nursultan Nazarbaev, 81, and his clan lost power and influence after the January protests.
Nazarbaev resigned as president in 2019, picking longtime ally Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev as his successor.
But he retained sweeping powers as the head of the Security Council, enjoying the powers as "elbasy," the leader of the nation. Many of his relatives continued to hold important posts in the government, security agencies, and profitable energy groups.
The protests in January started over a fuel-price hike and spread across Kazakhstan because of discontent over the cronyism that has long plagued the country. Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of the Security Council role, taking it over himself.
Just days after the protests, Nazarbaev's two sons-in-law, Qairat Sharipbaev and Dimash Dosanov, were pushed out of top jobs at two major state companies, QazaqGaz and KazTransOil, respectively.
Timur Kulibaev, Nazarbaev's billionaire son-in-law, also resigned as chairman of the oil-rich country's main business-lobby group.
Since then, several other relatives and those close to the family have been pushed out of their positions or resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges.
Earlier in June, a Toqaev-initiated referendum amended the constitution, removing all mentions of Nazarbaev.