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07Jan22

Fugitive banker calls himself leader of protests in Kazakhstan - agency

Former chairman of Bank Turan Alem (BTA Bank) Mukhtar Ablyazov, who is now hiding abroad, in an interview with Reuters has called himself the leader of the opposition and the protests in Kazakhstan.

According to Ablyazov, the protesters in Almaty consult with him how to act every day. "I see myself as the leader of the opposition," he said, noting that he would return to Kazakhstan to lead the interim government should the protests reach the right scale.

Ablyazov, who gave the interview in Paris, said he had not received any money from the West to coordinate the protests. The fugitive banker has urged Western states to interfere in the events in Kazakhstan to prevent the republic’s rapprochement with Russia.

Ablyazov case

Criminal cases related to suspected embezzling of bank assets, fraud, documents forging and abuse of power were opened against the ex-banker in Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. Ablyazov left Kazakhstan in 2009, following the bankruptcy announcement and nationalization of BTA Bank. He was put on Interpol’s international wanted list.

In July 2013, Ablyazov was arrested in France. Russia and Ukraine demanded his extradition. In September 2015, the French government ordered to extradite him to Russia. Ablyazov’s attorneys claimed that the case was politically motivated and turned to France’s Council of State, which revoked the extradition decision.

In 2017, Ablyazov was sentenced in absentia in Kazakhstan to 20 years behind bars and his property was seized. He was found guilty of setting up and leading a criminal group, embezzling BTA Bank’s funds, money laundering and abuse of power. In November 2018, a court in Kazakhstan sentenced Ablyazov in absentia to life imprisonment. He was found guilty of organizing the murder of former banker Yerzhan Tatishev.

In December 2020, a Moscow court sentenced Ablyazov in absentia to 15 years in jail over a large-scale embezzlement as part of an organized group.

[Source: Tass, London, 07Jan22]

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