'Plaza pamper' scion involved in ugly Kazakh custody war

By LARRY CELONA and DAREH GREGORIAN

Last Updated: 5:53 AM, July 9, 2012

Posted: 12:58 AM, July 9, 2012

Share on email Share on facebook More Sharing ServicesMore

EXCLUSIVE

He says she stole his $20 million Plaza apartment — and now Bolat Nazarbayev wants to make sure she doesn’t make off with his son, as well.

Nazarbayev, the brother of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has filed papers in Manhattan Supreme Court seeking immediate custody of his 10-year-old son with ex-wife Maira Nazarbayeva, The Post has learned.

Nazarbayeva, the filing says, is “an international fugitive, wanted by Interpol for crimes committed in her native country, the Republic of Kazakhstan,” and is also the person Nazarbayev has accused of swindling the title to his majestic Plaza apartment.

HOME ALONE: Khanbolat Nazarbayev, 10, lounging in his family’s $20 million Plaza palace (top), is now part of the ugly split between parents Maira and Bolat Nazarbayev, brother of Kazakhstan’s president.

The new court filing says the multimillionaire Kazakhstan resident is concerned that “she or someone under her control may flee with the child” to parts unknown if he doesn’t get immediate custody. A hearing has been scheduled for Friday.

The boy, Khanbolat, was believed to have been left in New York at the sprawling, 6,000-square-foot Plaza pad under the care of a baby sitter named Lina Kay while his exotic mom went off on a “family vacation” to Dubai and Cannes in late June.

Nazarbayeva’s vacation accommodations, however, have turned out to be far from first class — she was reportedly arrested in Dubai on the Interpol warrant, shortly after she had pictures of herself at the Dubai airport sent to media outlets in an effort to prove that she wasn’t wanted by the international police agency.

A rep for Interpol referred requests for comment to the site of the arrest, Dubai, and the place where the charges originated, Kazakhstan. Court papers say the charges she was wanted on included kidnapping and extortion.

Before she left for her trip, Nazarbayeva insisted to The Post that she wasn’t a wanted woman and even maintained that she was still happily married to Nazarbayev, a powerful copper and oil magnate.

Her camp is continuing the denials, and a source close to her denied that she was arrested.

The source also denied Khanbolat was in New York and said he’d gone on a trip to Malaysia, where his half-brother is engaged to the prime minister’s daughter.

The half-brother, who is Nazarbayeva’s son from a previous marriage, is being sued by Nazarbayev for allegedly conspiring with his mom to steal the Plaza apartment from him. That case is ongoing.

A source close to Nazarbayeva said she’s looking forward to battling the allegations in court.

“Kazakhstan may be controlled by a Nazarbayev, but American courts have real rules and regulations,” the source said.

Nazarbayev’s lawyer, Tom Sima, said, “Our client intends to settle his disputes through the court system. As a result, we do not plan on addressing the allegations made by the other side directly, but we can confirm that recent developments in connection with Ms. [Nazarbayeva], as well as substantial documentation in our possession, clearly contradict the statements made by her and her public-relations team.”

Lina Kay, the woman identified as Khanbolat’s baby sitter, did not return a call for comment.

Records show that she owns millions of dollars worth of property in New York and Florida.

Additional reporting by Amber Sutherland

dareh.gregorian@nypost.com