Warrant for Kazakh bank boss who snubbed court
AN ARREST warrant was issued yesterday for Kazakh billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former BTA Bank chairman accused of embezzling up to $5bn (£3.2bn) from the bank.
Mr Justice Teare found the tycoon – who fled to the UK in 2009 – in contempt of court for breaching orders related to the freezing of his assets, including a house on London’s “billionaire’s row”.
Ablyazov yesterday failed to attend the hearing, where he was sentenced to three concurrent 22-month jail terms and ordered into custody.
“The seriousness of Mr Ablyazov’s conduct, in my judgment, requires immediate custody,” Justice Teare told the court yesterday, adding that an arrest warrant would be issued.
But Ablyazov’s whereabouts were still unknown last night, and his lawyers are believed to have been told to provide the prosecution with his contact details by 10am this morning.
Ablyazov’s passport and travel documents were confiscated by the court during earlier proceedings, but BTA’s counsel Stephen Smith speculated yesterday that the tycoon was a flight risk, and asked for confirmation that the papers were secure.
Ablyazov’s former employer wants to recover $5bn in assets that the former chairman allegedly siphoned off from the bank’s balance sheet.