By admin 
After paying $200 million to the state, former deputy chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s Customs Service (GTS), Rayimbek Matraimov, was released from prison where he was awaiting trial on money laundering and other charges .
Matraimov was released this week, but is not allowed to leave the country. KnockOCCRP’s partner in Kyrgyzstan reports this. He paid the amount in two installments.
Matraimov had been in custody since March and during a parliamentary session on Thursday, the head of the State Commission for National Security (GKNB) said Kamchybek Tashievstated that there was no point in keeping him in prison after paying the equivalent of $200 million.
“Of course, this isn’t all cash; it also includes real estate. We have valued the house at an underestimated value. A trial will take place soon in which he will be punished for the charges against him or have to pay a fine. After the payment of the money, keeping him in custody made no sense, neither for the state nor for himself,” Tashiev said.
In 2019, OCCRP and its partners published a series of studies revealing how Matraimov used his political connections to funnel $700 million abroad. The revelations were the reason massive protests in Kyrgyzstan, where the public demanded his arrest.
In October 2020, Matraimov was detained by the GKNB on suspicion of embezzling millions of dollars in public funds. He was released shortly after paying $24.5 million into the state budget. Two months later, he and his wife were punished under the Global Magnitsky Act. A Kyrgyz court found him guilty of corruption and fined him $3,000.
But in January 2024, Kyrgyz authorities placed Matraimov on one wanted list. In March, the GKNB announced that he had been located in Azerbaijan and that an arrest and extradition request had been sent to Baku.
This time Matraimov was accused of hooliganism, illegal border crossing and money laundering. He and his three brothers were locked up in March after his extradition from Azerbaijan. He was also charged with illegal deprivation of liberty, although authorities have not provided further details on this charge.