The Matraimovs Karven Cottage
December 14, 2020
Reporters used open-source investigative techniques to discover a cottage the Matraimov family frequented near Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan’s biggest tourist destination.
The investigation was based on the social-media accounts of Uulkan Turgunova, the wife of Raimbek Matraimov, Kyrgyzstan’s former deputy chief of customs. Among friends and on social-media, Turgunova goes by the name “Amanda.”
Between 2015 and 2019, Turgunova posted multiple collages on Instagram and the Russian social network Odnoklassniki showing her and her children at the Karven Four Seasons resort.
We know where these photos were taken because she added the label “Karven 4-Season”:
CREDIT: Turgunova/Odnoklassniki
The Beautiful Life Of A Kyrgyz Customs Official
By RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, OCCRP, Kloop, and Bellingcat
December 14, 2020
Raimbek Matraimov is a powerful Kyrgyz political operator known for his massive wealth. This investigation into his wife’s social-media accounts reveals the opulent lifestyle his family enjoyed even as he declared only a modest salary in the country’s customs service.
“You can’t forbid living beautifully! ,” wrote Amanda Turgunova.
Those weren’t empty words for the Kyrgyz jet-setter. An accompanying photo collage, posted on a Russian social-media site in April 2015, shows an elegantly dressed Turgunova in what looks like an expensive restaurant and a fancy hotel lobby.