Maimaiti was at home when he was detained in November 2017. His brother, now based in Turkey, found out from one of Maimaiti’s employees that he was taken to an internment camp in Korla. Soon after, the employee cut off contact with him on social media platforms. Maimaiti was a business partner with his elder brother, Rouzi Hamdullah, who is also presumed to be in an internment camp. His brother told Amnesty International that he also learned that all the assets and properties of his brothers were confiscated by the Chinese government. In early 2016, Maimaiti and his brother Rouzi started a medical tourism project worth US$100 million in Ankara, Turkey, and had already invested US$5 million in the project prior to their detention.