Kazakhstan City Loses RICO Appeal Over Alleged Fraud Scheme

Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, failed Wednesday to convince the Ninth Circuit to revive its Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act complaint brought against a former mayor accused of unlawfully taking millions of dollars and laundering it in the U.S., because the connection to the U.S. wasn’t sufficient to state a claim.

Almaty sued former mayor Victor Khrapunov and his family in California federal court, saying they laundered the cash into real estate and other investments in the U.S., but the district court dismissed the city’s RICO claims for failure to state a claim. As mayor, Khrapunov allegedly abused ...