He enriched himself in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, as he, Alexander Mashkevich and Alijan Ibragimov, obtained mineral and gas operations when they were privatized in Kazakhstan.

Speaking Japanese fluently, he joined the diplomatic service specializing in Russian-Japanese commercial relations and subsequently lived in Tokyo for a few years.

[16] In September 2017, the Chodiev Foundation registered a representative office in Uzbekistan, in order to provide humanitarian assistance and healthcare to orphanages in the country.

Reports also stated that Chodiev plans to build several shopping malls as well as a metallurgical plant in Tashkent as part of an investment push into Uzbekistan.

This led to a debate in the media about how his naturalization was obtained, since Chodiev does not speak any of the three official languages of Belgium (Dutch, French or German) fluently.

His Belgian naturalization was finally the subject of an official inquiry in January 2017, about which the Belgian newspaper Le Soir wrote on 11 January 2017: "When Serge Kubla wrote to Claude Eerdekens on 16 May 1997, all the lights were already green for Chodiev: he had the support of the SPF Justice, the State Security Service, the Aliens Department, the Waterloo police and the Public Prosecutor's Office, and therefore also that of the naturalization service".

Georges Gilkinet, Ecolo deputy, then vice-chairman and very active member of the commission of inquiry, made a series of incriminating remarks, defaming the billionaire.

[26] On 19 June 2019 the Namur court of first instance declared Chodiev's complaint against Ecolo MP Georges Gilkinet inadmissible and unfounded.

On 24 November 2022 the Court of Cassation confirms the basis of the judicial condemnation of Georges Gilkinet, thus giving reason to Patokh Chodiev.

[30][31] Separate to this case, the three partners were under investigation in Belgium on suspicions of forgery and money laundering, but the Brussels public prosecutor dropped any proceedings on 17 June 2011, within the framework of the extension to the criminal transaction law.