Swiss authorities close criminal case against former Almaty mayor Viktor Khrapunov

Proceedings concluded after 15 years of investigation / Photo: Shutterstock, photo editor: Dastan Shanay

Criminal proceedings against Viktor Khrapunov and members of his family have been definitively closed in Switzerland following 15 years of investigation and litigation, the former Almaty mayor announced on Facebook.

On June 23, 2026, the Criminal Chamber of Appeal and Revision of the Geneva Court of Justice rejected Almaty’s challenge to the Geneva Public Prosecutor’s decision to close the criminal proceedings. The city did not appeal the ruling, which subsequently became final, according to Khrapunov.

«As a result of this decision, we are now fully acquitted as a matter of law. The criminal case is definitively closed. There is no criminal conviction against us, no established finding of criminal guilt, and no continuing criminal proceedings against us in Switzerland,» Khrapunov wrote.

However, according to Gotham City, a Swiss media outlet specializing in legal issues, the money laundering proceedings were terminated because the statute of limitations had expired. In October 2025, the court had criticized the Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office for putting the investigation on hold for roughly 17 months.

This means that the closure of the Swiss proceedings does not constitute an acquittal on the merits of the charges. Furthermore, the Swiss decision neither overturns nor alters the convictions handed down against Viktor and Leila Khrapunov in absentia in Kazakhstan.

Background on the case

Swiss authorities launched an investigation into the Khrapunov family on suspicion of money laundering in the early 2010s. In 2018, a Kazakhstani court sentenced Viktor Khrapunov in absentia to 17 years in prison and his wife, Leila Khrapunova, to 14 years, along with the confiscation of their assets.

The family moved to Switzerland between 2007 and 2008, and was granted political asylum there. Kazakhstan accused them of corruption, embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, fraud and money laundering. The Khrapunovs, in turn, maintained that the prosecution was politically motivated.