Detention in jail, copter chase in a national park, money embezzlement – the curriculum vitae of Orazaly Yerzhanov, a MP candidate

Facebook blogger Andrey Andreyev admires and hails the courage of Mr. Yerzhanov, who is ready to fight for a seat in the national Parliament, despite the “glorious” resume.  Below is literal translation of Andreyev’s post on Facebook:

“Orazaly Yerzhanov recently made it out of jail and suddenly realized he was a person worthy of making a MP. Contrary to many other candidacies, who can boast employments and achievements for the best of interests of state and nation, Mr. Yerzhanov’s resume is somewhat different. If to skip details, it will look as follows:

Glorious Chase

He was a Vice-Minister of Finance and an official laboriously working for his country under the wise command of the “Now Retired”. Prior to one of the elections campaigns, he, together with a friend (another public servant) went to a hunting holiday filed as a “duty journey”. That friend later was put in detention for stealing governmental moneys. So, the two friends, seeking for new sensations, decided to go out for a copter chase out in the wild. There were two 4WDs escorting the helicopter to collect the bodies of animals killed from that copter. Luckily, or unfortunately, the copter went down. Mr. Yerzhanov sustained burns on 30% of his body, but instead of addressing indigenous doctors for help, he ordered a charter vessel from Israel. A private vessel arrived in time with two pilots and two Israeli doctors. They say, he paid half a million Dead American Presidents for treatment and the Government reimbursed only USD 40 thousand out of said amount. What can you say to that – the guy does not trust compatriot doctors, although being a Government official, what can you do about it….

Considerate Banker

After successful rehabilitation in Israel, Yerzhanov came to lead the Nauryz-Bank.  In 2001-2004, under Yerzhanov’s considerate leadership, the Bank transferred out of Kazakhstan KZT 3.5 billion. USD-KZT exchange rate, at the time of events, was lower, so those willing can do some basic calculation to see how much “bucks were chopped”.  In Kazakh Tenge, each year of Yerzhanov’s management of the Bank cost Kazakhstan 1 Billion.  When appropriate bodies began to suspect Yerzhanov of embezzlement, he ran away to Moscow and stayed there for 5 years.  Eventually, he got caught and brought back to Kazakhstan.  If they did not catch him, we would not have such a fantastic MP candidacy today.

Well, he got caught and put in jail for 5 years – for as long, as he was hiding in Russia, one year for each billion stolen.

Jail to Opposition

Having served his detention term, Yerzhanov fell into oblivion.  After the blood shedding events of January 2022, he suddenly appeared in public spotlights as a passionate oppositionist.  Looks like, he forgot his past and decided to enjoy new future in the Parliament. 

A funny MP candidacy.  A public servant, a copter hunter, an accident victim, a patient in Israel, a bank manager, a thief from bank he managed, a fugitive suspect, an inmate, a ghost, an opposition activist, a MP candidate.

I think his seat is not in the building of the Parliament.  He could make a great Netflix script-writer.  His life would be a good food for a good soap opera.