UK Supreme court issues new arrest warrant against ex-chief of Kazakh BTA Bank Mukhtar Ablyazov

AKIPRESS.COM - A Supreme Court of the UK on July 16 prolonged the decision on imprisonment of the former Head of the Board of Directors of the JSC BTA Bank of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Ablyazov to 22 months for contempt of court, which was rendered in February 2012, the Bank reported.
The detention ordinance is another official document, which is issued by police or court staff to arrest and place Ablyazov to jail for serving sentence in case of his entrance to the UK. The document is valid 2 year, after which it will be extended again for another term. The Bank holds regular works on extension of the above-mentioned document.
The UK Supreme Court issued its first arrest warrant on February 16, 2012. Ablyazov repeatedly gave false testimony, submitted to the court false documents through which assests and transactions were hidden from the Bank. He also did not appear in court sessions. In this connection, the English court decided to sentence him for showing contempt of court for imprisonment for a total term of 22 months.
The decision on imprisonment is aimed at making Ablyazov obey the court's orders about a complete disclosing of all assets, termination of any actions in relation to these assets and return of all assets.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker on July 3, 219 said Ablyazov was "less than forthcoming" in a court-ordered deposition carried out in France, during which he claimed not to remember his own phone number or whether he'd used an accountant since fleeing Kazakhstan in 2009.
Ablyazov says BTA's claims were cooked up by Kazakhstan's former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to stunt Ablyazov's budding political opposition. Parker said in her ruling that Ablyazov is "in hiding" in France.
"Ablyazov's recalcitrance is particularly troubling given that the missing evidence goes to the heart of his defenses," Parker said in ruling in Manhattan. "Such failure to produce is intentional."
Ablyazov is accused of embezzling financial means of the BTA Bank from 2005-2009. The total damage is estimated at at least $6 billion. In June 217, a specialized inter-district criminal court of Almaty found him guilty and sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison with confiscation of property.