The recently opened fraud trial of Kazakh entrepreneur Perizat Kairat in Astana has unexpectedly spotlighted the boxing gloves of Gennadiy «GGG» Golovkin, purchased by one of Kairat’s victims.
At issue is a 2021 charity auction organized by Kairat, where Moldir Suyunshali, head of MM Group Development, bought Golovkin’s gloves for 10 million tenge (about $23,500). Kairat’s lawyers expressed surprise at the high price paid for the auction lot, from which their client received the proceeds.
Gloves take center stage
The defense focused heavily on the gloves during cross-examination, implying their value had been artificially inflated.
«Did you buy Golovkin’s gloves for 10 million tenge? Did you get anything for it?» defense attorneys asked.
Suyunshali responded that she participated to support the charitable cause, not for the gloves themselves.
«I gave money for the construction of a center for children with illnesses, not for Golovkin’s gloves,» she testified.
She emphasized that the auction was billed as a charity event, and her payment was intended to help fund a rehabilitation center.
The defense pressed further, asking if she ever tried to resell the gloves to recover her money.
Suyunshali rejected the suggestion.
«It was a charity auction. This money was intended for charity. I can return the gloves — but then give me my money back,» she said.
When defense lawyers asked whom she would return them to, she replied, «To the one who took the money from me.»
At one point, Suyunshali challenged the defense’s line of questioning, asking the court to deem it improper. The court declined, ordering her to answer. She remained firm, stressing that her sole intention had been to help children, not to buy an expensive souvenir.
Background of the case
Between 2021 and 2024, Kairat — acting as a key representative of the Biz Birgemiz Qazaqstan 2030 charitable fund — repeatedly called on the public to donate under the pretense of aiding children in need, victims of conflict in Palestine and flood victims across Kazakhstan. Prosecutors allege that Kairat instead funneled the donated funds into her personal accounts and those of her mother Gaini Alashbayeva. The total amount misappropriated is alleged to exceed $7 million.
According to prosecutors, Kairat and her mother held the charity auction in November 2021 at the Sheraton Hotel in Astana, raising approximately $50,700, nearly half of which came from Suyunshali’s purchase. Prosecutors allege that none of the money went to charity and instead funded Kairat’s luxury expenses, including stays at high-end hotels in Dubai and designer shopping sprees.
Previously, Suyunshali told reporters she felt she had received «a slap in the face» from the media due to her association with Kairat. A prominent businesswoman from Astana, Suyunshali was named to Forbes Kazakhstan’s 30 Under 30 list in 2021.
