Once known as Kyrgyzstan’s infamous kingmaker and “political wallet”, powerful ex-customs official and alleged epic smuggler and money launderer Raimbek Matraimov was on March 27 placed in a one-month pre-trial detention by a Bishkek court. The ex-deputy head of the Kyrgyz Customs Service was extradited the previous night from Azerbaijan, where officials of Kyrgyzstan’s Japarov regime allege he fled after further exposure of his corrupt network that, they claimed, had spread throughout the government. Matraimov, sometimes known as “Raim Million” and rumoured to have bought elections, was in fa…
