The legend of the dictator’s daughter and her job in Ticino

The daughter of the head of state of Kazakhstan obtained a Swiss residence permit – on the understanding that she was the head of a company. But the authorities have now confirmed that she has never worked here.

Translation of the article: Die Diktatorentochter und die Mär ihrer Arbeitsstelle im Tessin.

Dinara Kubilayeva, the daughter of Kazakhstan’s autocratic head of state, obtained a residence permit in Switzerland on the basis of promises that were never kept. This came to light as a result of clarifications issued by the Ticino canton authorities, as Attilio Cometta, head of the population section explained in response to enquiries: ‘This woman has never worked in Switzerland or paid income tax in Ticino’.

This statement represents official confirmation by the canton of Ticino of information from the NZZ, which brought inconsistencies in the Kubilayeva case into the open on 1st March 2013. This article led the Federal Office for Migration (BfM) to instruct the canton of Ticino to clarify the situation in more detail. Cometta has now passed his findings to the BfM in writing.

Great promises

A flashback: Kubilayeva, now 46 years old and the extremely rich daughter of the president was granted in January 2007 a short stay permit (type L) in Ticino, for 120 days per year. This relied on a supposed employment contract with a recently-established Ticino firm called Viled SA. The two directors of the company wrote to the canton authorities, holding out the prospect of many new jobs being created in Tessin, and major tax yields being generated. For this to be made possible, they claimed, the appointment of Kulibayeva as director of Viled was essential.

On the basis of these assertions, Kulibayeva promptly received her residence permit (even though the law sets the bar high in the case of non-EU foreigners). The L permit allowed Kulibayeva to establish herself in Switzerland. Shortly afterwards, she managed to broker a better deal: a change in the law in 2008 allowed her to negotiate a flat-rate tax agreement. This entitled her to a B permit. She subsequently moved to Geneva where she officially resides to this day.

So, even though Kulibayeva now enjoys a different status from then, the fact remains that she obtained her initial residence permit on the basis of statements which now turn out to be a fabrication. According to Cometta, canton Ticino is unable to take any action because Kulibayeva is no longer living in Ticino territory. He also states that it would in any case be difficult to prove that the authorities had been deliberately deceived. Kulibayeva’s Swiss lawyer, Jean-Christophe Hocke, claims that his client did not try to mislead the authorities. ‘The Viled company had plans to develop activities in Switzerland. These plans were later changed.’ Moreover, Hocke asserts, Switzerland did not suffer any kind of negative effect from this affair. ‘Quite the opposite: Ms Kulibayeva is now a major taxpayer in Switzerland on the basis of her flat-rate tax agreement.’

Ball is now in Geneva’s court

All the same, the BfM has now passed the Ticino authorities’ report to the canton authorities in Geneva, where Kulibayeva has purchased a lakeside villa for 74.7 million francs. According to unconfirmed reports, her B permit in Geneva expires in 2014 and has to be renewed.

So will the inconsistencies back in Ticino have any effect on their reappraisal? The authorities in Geneva are tight-lipped: the department of FDP cantonal councillor Pierre Maudet, who handles such matters, states that they do not give out information on ‘individual cases’. What is clear though, is that any extension of Kulibayeva’s B permit would have to be authorised by both the canton of Geneva and the BfM in SP federal councillor’s Simonetta Sommaruga’s department.

Meanwhile the authorities in Ticino say they have learnt their lesson. According to Cornetta, in future any conspicuous cases will be ‘examined more carefully’