The founder of the Royal Time Group, a pioneer of the gambling business in Azov-City, is being sought on an international wanted list for embezzlement.
Rashid Taimasov made a bad bet.
Rashid Taimasov, who led the Royal Time Group company, opened the Oracle casino in the Azov City gambling zone in 2010. The casino closed in 2018, and a year later, the company was declared bankrupt with debts over 1.5 billion rubles. Taimasov, the businessman behind the first casino in the Russian gaming zone, was arrested in absentia and put on the international wanted list, according to TASS.
The court has decided to arrest Taymasov for 2 months once he is transferred to Russian law enforcement agencies, extradited, deported to Russia, or detained in Russia. He has been placed on the international wanted list.
A source in law enforcement said that the businessman was arrested in absentia as part of a criminal case involving large-scale embezzlement.
Taimasov was the CEO of the Royal Time Group company and managed a casino in Kamsky Polyany in Tatarstan until 2009, when gambling was restricted in Russia. In 2010, the company became the main investor in the Azov City gambling zones. The company opened the first Oracle casino there and planned further investments in the project. Royal Time Group also developed gambling business in other Russian gambling zones such as Primorye, Altai Territory, and Kaliningrad Region.
In the same year, the company opened the first Oracle casino in the Azov City zone and planned additional investments. Royal Time Group was also involved in developing gambling business in other Russian gambling zones like Primorye, Altai Territory, and Kaliningrad Region.
In 2015, the authorities decided to shut down the Azov City gambling zone and replace it with a new one in Sochi. The project was ultimately canceled in 2018. Afterward, Royal Time Group attempted to sue the authorities of the Krasnodar Territory for compensation for lost profits.
In 2019, the company declared bankruptcy with debts of around 1.5 billion rubles. The Tatarstan Arbitration Court eventually declared Royal Time Group bankrupt. The company’s projects were funded by Tatfondbank, which lost its license in 2017.
In the 2000s, Taimasov managed one of the largest development companies Suvar-Kazan and later acquired its gambling subsidiary, Royal Time Group. By 2010, Taimasov had experience in running a gambling business in Kamskiye Polyany and Yerevan. His company opened the Oracul casino in the Azov City gambling zone, which was the first legal casino in Russia after the restrictions on gambling. Eventually, the Royal Time company filed several lawsuits in arbitration demanding compensation for lost profits, but the Tatarstan Arbitration Court denied the claims and Taimasov tried to challenge the decisions.
As per 116.ru, in March 2022, Alexei Boikov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory from the LDPR party, bought the bankrupt Royal Time Group's property, including a casino building, hotels, and eight other technical facilities, for 102 million rubles at an auction.
In 2018, Taimasov was declared bankrupt. The Tatarstan Arbitration Court decided to sell his property to pay off debts. Law enforcement agencies told TASS that the businessman was a guarantor for loans that Royal Time Group took from Tatfondbank to develop the gambling business in Azov City and other gambling zones. The Deposit Insurance Agency then presented the founder of Royal Time Group with claims in the amount of more than 400 million rubles.
And the “gambling king” is wanted: how Rashid Taimasov and the tops of “Timer Bank” “redeemed” loans for a billion
“I do not accept responsibility for this ridiculous accusation,” Ramil Nasyrov, former first chairman of the board of Tatfondbank, stated in court on Monday. The investigation and prosecution considered him the creator of a criminal group, which included the ex-head of Timer Bank Airat Kamalov, the “gambling king” Rashid Taimasov, and “unidentified accomplices.” Together, according to a simple plan developed by Nasyrov, they allegedly stole 935 million rubles. But if the former bankers were detained, then Taymasov managed to escape from the court. Details of the accusation announced by him are in the material “BUSINESS Online”.
Ramil Nasyrov (left) and Airat Kamalov
In the Vakhitovsky court – a new case of bankers
In the Vakhitovsky court, which has now become the last refuge for the former eminent bankers of Tatarstan, Ramil Nasyrov and Airat Kamalov appeared accompanied by escorts. In the corridor of the former tops, a “support group” was waiting – two women and four men, with whom the defendants greeted without hiding their smiles and as far as the escorts allowed them, to whom they were handcuffed. “Wow,” Nasyrov said, surprised either by the journalistic cameras, or by the presence of people he knew. By the way, the support group was allowed to the meeting in full force. Although since the time of the “covid” restrictions, listeners (namely, this is how those who came) have not been favored in the courts.
Judge Rufina Gazizova at the beginning of the meeting found out if there was someone at the trial who would later appear in court as a witness. The lawyers shook their heads. As it turned out later, those who came were relatives and acquaintances of Kamalov and Nasyrov, who wanted to resolve the issue of a date. And, of course, to see at least for a short process. Apparently, even the decision of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan, which last week overturned the decision to extend the arrest of Kamalov and Nasyrov, did not inspire hope in them. By the way, until today the fate of the materials is unknown – they have not yet returned to the Vakhitovsky court. The term of imprisonment of former bankers in a pre-trial detention center will end on September 20.
Unlike many people listening, Timer Bank JSC's representative didn't show up at the meeting. So we decided to start without him.
According to the record, the court confirmed who the defendants were. Nasyrov claimed he's 40 years old, holds a Ph.D., and is single with no children. His most recent job was Vice President for Strategic Development at PJSC Moscow Credit Bank.
Kamalov recently turned 44, has two college degrees, a wife, and four children, three of whom are minors. Before being arrested, he worked as a secretary at the Avtodor state company.
After finishing all the official procedures, Lenara Churkina, the prosecutor of the prosecutor’s office of the Republic of Tatarstan, read out the accusations against the former bankers.
The prosecution's claim: how the leaders of TFB and Timer Bank did business with the “gambling king”
The only incident Kamalov and Nasyrov are accused of involves loans to Royal Time Group LLC. The company was a significant investor in Russia’s first gambling zone in the Krasnodar Territory, Azov-City, founded by Kazan businessman Rashid Taimasov. In 2019, it went bankrupt due to a 1.5 billion ruble debt, and a year earlier, Taimasov himself was declared bankrupt.
In 2013-2015, Royal Time Group received 935.889 million rubles from TFB under loan agreements. Taimasov’s company used land in the Zelenodolsk region as collateral for the loans, including plots in Urazla, Bolshiye Yaki, and Nikolskoye. The pledged lands are quite vast – with areas of hundreds of thousands of square meters, and one plot in the village of Bolshiye Yaki was 2.8 million square meters. This way, Taimasov's loans were secured by 24 plots near Kazan.
The prosecutor reminded that Nasyrov served as First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Tatfondbank PJSC since December 2015. In fact, he was the right hand of Robert Musin, who is now being tried. And since June 2016, he was also the chairman of the board of directors of Timer Bank. The prosecution believes Nasyrov knew about this large credit line for a top client and had criminal intent to embezzle money from the bank. To do this, he devised a scheme involving withdrawing collateral and selling the debt to Timer Bank. However, he knew he couldn't do it alone.
According to the prosecution, Nasyrov, Kamalov, and Taymasov planned to unlawfully take a large amount of money over a long period of time by withdrawing collateral on loans and signing an assignment agreement between banks, ultimately benefiting themselves.
Taimasov is being sought, but the leaders of Timer Bank do not admit guilt.
The plan began on October 24th, when Nasyrov, as the deputy chairman of TFB, arranged a meeting to withdraw collateral and later organized a board meeting at Timer Bank, where they approved a deal to buy bad loans not secured by collateral.
Then Kamalov instructed his subordinates to prepare an assignment agreement and, along with Nasyrov, sealed the document. By the end of the day, 935 million rubles were received from Timer Bank account in TFB, which they used at their discretion.
According to the accusation, Taimasov's role was to not pay on loans that were transferred to Timer Bank and had no collateral.
Nasyrov and Kamalov are accused under Part 4 of Art. 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for assignment or embezzlement committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale, with a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
Nasyrov disagreed with the investigation's version and expressed that the accusation was absurd. Kamalov also denied the charges.
The case against Taymasov has been separated into a separate proceeding, so he will no longer be on the same bench with Nasyrov and Kamalov, whenever he is detained. Currently, he is wanted.
