 A branch of the Soros Foundation in Kazakhstan has strongly denied charges of tax evasion by the authorities, describing the allegations as politically motivated. "It seems that the Kazakh government wants to close down the foundation," Dariusz Zietek, head of the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan (SFK), told IRIN from the commercial capital, Almaty, on Thursday. "The whole story is politically motivated." His remarks follow this week's announcement by Kazakh financial officials that a criminal investigation had been opened against the acclaimed foundation funded by billionaire American financier George Soros, which has been active in Central Asia's largest nation since 1993. Kazakh officials maintain the Soros Foundation failed to pay some US $400,000 in back taxes it owned since 2001, plus some $200,000 in penalties... I think that's something like FIVE countries they've been kicked out of for trying to influence elections, and otherwise manipulate the government. George Soros wants to steal some country he can rule. |