The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry official told RFE/RL on January 26 that the former deputy chief of the Customs Service, Raimbek Matraimov, who in 2020-2021 was at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal, was added to the wanted list of the State Committee for National Security. The ex-official is suspected of abducting and illegally incarcerating unspecified individuals. Matraimov, who escaped imprisonment in 2021 by paying 2 billion soms ($22.4 million) to Kyrgyzstan’s state treasury, faced the new charges after Kyrgyz police shot dead criminal kingpin Kamchybek Kolbaev in October. Matraimov's current whereabouts are unknown. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.
Ex-Deputy Chief Of Kyrgyz Customs Service Added To Wanted List
The former deputy head of the Kyrgyz Customs Service, Raimbek Matraimov (file photo)