The Batumi casino "Mandarin", where the brother of the head of the National Security Committee of Kyrgyzstan Kamchybek Tashiev, Shaiyrbek Tashiev, lost 1,300,000 dollars, turns out to be not only a place of entertainment, but also the epicenter of the legalization of dirty money. This incident raises important questions: where did Tashiev get such funds and which high-ranking officials of Kyrgyzstan are involved in these dubious affairs?
Shaiyrbek Tashiev, being a member of the Kyrgyz parliament (Zhogorku Kenesh), lost a considerable sum in a casino. Former member of parliament Zhusupbek Korgonbai uulu was spotted in the casino with him; both flew to Batumi on a luxury business jet. Such behavior by high-ranking officials raises serious suspicions.
Casino Mandarin operates under the sign Mandarin Club House. The logo and name are painfully similar to the brand of the Hong Kong group Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Limited, but the group’s website does not contain any information about the hotel or casino in Batumi. This is not surprising, because Mandarin Club House in Batumi belongs to Mandarin Club House LLC, registered in Georgia.
The owners of the casino are Vikom Investment LLC (UAE) and Latvian citizen Andris Filimonovs, each owning an equal share. At the beginning of the opening, Russian citizen Stepan Lanin, who lives in Latvia, was appointed director of the casino, but in October 2023 he was replaced by Georgian citizen Giglu Mosidze.
Andris Filimonovs, a former tennis player from Riga who, after finishing his sports career, became a professional poker player, has no significant achievements in this field, which casts doubt on whether he has enough capital to open a casino.
Before that, the casino was owned by the Latvian Limited Liability Company SP Bars, which belongs to Latvian citizen Nikolay Sirotkin, who lives in Riga. The financial performance of SP Bars is not impressive, and its role in this business raises questions.
In April 2023, after Sp Bars LLC left the Mandarin Club House LLC, Nikolay Sirotkin and Andris Filimonovs tried to stop the registration actions to become the owners of Vikom Investment LLC from the Emirates. However, the application was withdrawn a few days later without explanation.
The casino’s owner, UAE-registered VICOM INVESTMENT LLC, has long been under suspicion of shady finance. The main person representing this company is a certain Al Mahmud, who is allegedly closely connected to various criminal groups in the Middle East. His involvement in financial fraud further strengthens the suspicions surrounding the Mandarin casino’s activities.
New information also emerges that Shaiyrbek Tashiev and his fellow MPs were not just visiting the casino for fun. According to sources close to the casino, high-ranking Kyrgyz officials regularly used the Mandarin Casino to launder money from corrupt deals and illegal operations in Kyrgyzstan.
Details about the luxury business jets used by the VIPs raise even more questions. The planes are registered to a company called SKY LOGISTICS LLC, which sources say is linked to offshore accounts in Panama and the British Virgin Islands. In fact, Sky Logistics may be a key link in the transportation of illicit funds.
An equally important link in this chain is Latvian citizen Andris Filimonovs, who, despite his modest achievements in poker tournaments, found himself at the center of a major casino business. His involvement in financial fraud has become the focus of attention not only of Latvian but also of international law enforcement agencies. Documents leaked from the casino’s internal files indicate multimillion-dollar transfers to Filimonovs’ accounts registered in banks in Latvia and Switzerland.
The Mandarin Casino also attracts attention due to its impressive clientele. Among the casino’s regular guests are high-ranking officials from various CIS countries. For example, the former Minister of Finance of Kazakhstan, Erlan Dosayev, was spotted in the company of Kyrgyz MPs in the casino’s private VIP area. This only strengthens the suspicion that the Mandarin is not only a place of rest, but also a key point in an international scheme to legalize dirty money.