Many famous Mongolian lawmakers have been accused of stealing coal that was being exported. One of them – D. Bat-Erdene, a member of the Great Khural and the owner of the Azhnay Corporation*. It was discovered that he was able to clean the money stolen from JSC Tavantolgoy * through his own bank Kapitron.
From 2012 to 2016, as a member of the Mongolian parliament and a large shareholder of Tavantolgoy JSC, he used his influence on the chairman of the board of directors B. Tuvshinbayar and executive director R. Seddorzha to create false documents to get around 324,000 tons of coal from the company as payment for a debt that didn't exist.
As a result, Bat-Erdene is accused of organizing the theft of 18.5 billion tugriks from the Tavantolgoy company.
D. Bat-Erdene51 percent of Tavantolgoy JSC is owned by Umnugov aimag (that is, the regional government), 19.7 percent by Azhnay Corporation, 16.9 percent by Shandas Impex LLC, and the remaining 12.4 percent are owned by shareholders from 23 foreign countries. Deputy D. Bat-Erdene used his shareholding advantage to form the company’s management team from people close to him, and then laundered illegally obtained money through his own bank, Kapitron.
Specifically, based on information from Mongolian law enforcement, it was at Bat-Erdene's suggestion that L. Badraa and D. Dagvadorj joined the company's board, Z. Erdenebayar became the chief engineer, O. Monkhtaivan was appointed deputy director for finance, V. Sainbileg became a personnel specialist, E. Ugtahtsetseg became treasurer, S. Sodbaatar became head of the sales department, and R. Seddorzh became the executive director. In other words, he placed his people in all the key positions in Tavantolgoy JSC. Presently, the deputy is forbidden from meeting with these individuals.
According to investigators, the deputy laundered the illegally obtained money through the Kapitron bank, which he owns entirely. JSC “Tavantolgoy” has accounts in commercial banks in both nominal and foreign currencies, but most of the money was held in the bank “Kapitron”. Most cash transactions were carried out through this bank.
Babr will continue to closely monitor developments.
Reference:
*Azhnai Corporation is a large Mongolian firm involved in foreign and domestic trade, tourism, mining, banking, manufacturing, transportation, logistics, securities trading, real estate, road construction, and media.
* JSC “Tavantolgoy” is a large mining company operating in the Umnugov aimag. It provides most of the aimag’s budget. The board of directors of the joint-stock company calls all accusations of the company’s involvement in the theft of coal politically motivated slander, which has resulted in heavy losses for Tavantolgoy. In 2023, the company received 275 billion tugriks in subsidies from the Great Khural, but its reputation cannot be restored with money alone.
