Rustam Mirzabayev Security & risk expert
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Expert profile

Career map

Not “extensive experience”, but specific periods, positions and organisations. Each block expands.

Thirty-six years on a single scale

The periods did not simply follow one another: the practice, the association and the international consulting run in parallel.

1990 — 2007Law enforcement
2007 — 2019Corporate security
2015 — presentBureau RM
2018 — presentQalqan association
2025 — presentJOI Consulting Group
Education
Engineering geologistLaw1990200020102020today
The scale follows the dates in the profile: the path began in 1990.

Career map

Not “extensive experience”, but specific periods, positions and organisations. Each block expands.

Rustam Mirzabayev, expert in security, investigations and risk management

1990

The start of the path

Engineering geologist by training — Kazakh Polytechnic Institute, faculty of hydrogeology and exploration technology.

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The specialism was engineering geology and hydrogeology: a discipline that teaches you to read what is not visible on the surface and to draw conclusions from indirect signs.

That foundation — systematic analysis and structural thinking — later shaped the working style in field and analytical work.

1990 — 2007

Law enforcement

17 years of field service. Police lieutenant colonel. Final position: head of the department for combating especially dangerous crime, Organised Crime Directorate, Almaty.

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Areas of work: contract killings, extortion and racketeering, kidnapping, hostage-taking, religious extremism and terrorism.

Operational and investigative work, source handling, lie verification and profiling, crisis management under severe conditions.

Repeatedly recognised with state and departmental awards for solving especially dangerous crimes and for distinguished service.

1998

Law degree

Karaganda Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, qualification in law.

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Advanced investigative and legal training — a second degree earned while serving.

2007 — 2019

Corporate security

12 years leading security functions and risk audit in major Kazakhstani groups.

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The Gross supermarket chain, ATFBank, Alliance Bank, Transtelecom and the Elektrokabel plant.

Complex internal investigations, countering internal fraud (forensics), and personal security for senior executives and shareholders.

This is where the key difference became clear: in business, security is not about catching someone — it is about prevention and arithmetic.

2015 — present

Own practice — Bureau RM

Owner and principal of Bureau RM LLP (until 2026, the Bureau of Independent Investigations).

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Corporate security, risk management, independent investigations and full legal support.

The firm is not a guard company: the focus is deep analysis and asset protection.

From 2026 the offering expanded into risk management, financial audit, cybersecurity and information security.

2018 — present

Professional community

Chairman of Security Experts Qalqan — eight industry sectors.

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The association gathers and shares best practice across security and detective work.

In 2019 it organised and hosted an international conference in Kazakhstan with leading experts from the field.

Subject-matter expert in the working group drafting the law on private detective activity in the Republic of Kazakhstan, at the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs.

2025 — present

International consulting

Partner for Central Asia at the international firm JOI Consulting Group.

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Integrated security management, risk mitigation and strategic support for cross-border investment projects.

Direct point of contact for enquiries from Central Asia through the group.

Evidence of expertise

What supports it

Education

  • Kazakh Polytechnic Institute, 1990 — engineering geologist
  • Karaganda Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 1998 — law

Positions

  • Head of the department for combating especially dangerous crime, Almaty
  • Head of security functions in banking, telecoms and manufacturing
  • Owner and principal of Bureau RM LLP
  • Partner for Central Asia, JOI Consulting Group

Industry work

  • Chairman of Security Experts Qalqan since 2018
  • Organiser of an international security conference in Kazakhstan, 2019
  • Expert in the working group on the private detective activity bill (Atameken)
  • Speaker at international conferences on security and detective work

Public expertise

  • Lead expert on KTK's documentary series “It Happened…” — 139 episodes
  • Regular guest on podcasts and broadcasts
  • Own YouTube channel with an archive of case analyses and interviews

Some details — certificates, awards and the full list of conferences — require documentary confirmation before publication and are deliberately not itemised here.

Personal

Discipline shows outside work too

Powerlifting since 2018: champion of Almaty, Kazakhstan, Asia, Europe and the world in masters divisions across leading international federations, master of sport in two federations, and current record holder in Asia and Kazakhstan.

Married, father of five and grandfather of four. Family is what defines an understanding of healthy boundaries — a theme Mental Shield returns to constantly.

Sporting achievements

Awards and titles

Powerlifting since 2018: championships of Almaty, Kazakhstan, Asia, Europe and the world in masters divisions, master of sport titles and standing records.

  • Rustam Mirzabayev with medals from a world championship
  • Rustam Mirzabayev with awards from a powerlifting competition
  • Award ceremony at a powerlifting competition
  • Trophy from a powerlifting competition
  • Master of sport insignia and certificate in powerlifting
  • Master of sport insignia and certificate in powerlifting
  • Powerlifting record certificate
  • Medal from a powerlifting competition
  • Medal from a powerlifting competition
  • Medal from a powerlifting competition
  • Diploma from a powerlifting competition
  • Diploma from a powerlifting competition

Photographs provided by Rustam Mirzabayev. Exact competition names, dates and results are being confirmed.

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