They pardoned $ 7.5 billion and sent him into a conflict: Who is Mukhtar Ablyazov, who is seeking power in Kazakhstan

Businessman and banker Ablyazov is known as the main opponent in Kazakhstan. Security forces from different countries are searching for him, accusing him of fraudulent activities totaling billions of dollars. What is he renowned for?

“Shal, ket!” (“Old man, go away!”) Many protesters in Kazakhstan came out in January with this very slogan, created by Kazakhstan’s controversial oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov. The political organization “Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan” (DVK) created by him has been considered extremist in Kazakhstan since 2018. Despite Ablyazov always stating he supported peaceful protests, in January Kazakhstan saw violence. At the same time, the protesters received instructions from the Kiev headquarters of the DCK.

The 58-year-old Ablyazov himself denies that the DCK provoked armed unrest, but is already preparing to take power in Kazakhstan, as the oligarch told RIA Novosti, warning about the consequences of the wrong position of the Europeans:

– I personally appealed to Macron. I warned the Western countries that if they take a wait-and-see attitude, then Central Asia will be a bigger problem than Afghanistan.

Ablyazov has been given full permission: last week, the Paris Court of Appeal dismissed a nearly 13-year-old money laundering and breach of trust case against Ablyazov. The French have forgiven him over $7.5 billion believed to have been stolen from Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine due to the statute of limitations. Now he can redirect his intense energy to the struggle for freedom and democracy in his home country, which he did in exile.

Consistent Westerner

Mukhtar Kabulovich Ablyazov was born in the south of Kazakhstan in the village of Vannovka in 1963. He began his protest activity back in 1986 during the December speech of youth against the Soviet authorities, for which he even had to “suffer” – he was transferred from the Kazakh State University (KSU) to the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), from which Ablyazov graduated in the same year as a theoretical physicist. After graduation, he returned to KSU, where he was involved in scientific activities.

Mukhtar Ablyazov. Photo © TASS / AP / Alexander Turnbull

With the collapse of the Union, Ablyazov dived into business, where he quickly achieved significant success. Starting with a small company “Madina” (it is interesting that he registered the first business in Russia), Ablyazov sold computers and printers, but already in 1992 he founded “Astana-Holding”, operating in the field of food supplies.

In 1997, Ablyazov became the president of the electric grid company KEGOC, and in 1998, Astana Holding acquired Bank Turan Alem, later renamed BTA Bank, at a privatization auction for $72 million. This organization is a cornerstone for Kazakhstan. Therefore, Ablyazov’s move to politics seems rational – in the same year he took the position of Minister of Energy, Industry and Trade of Kazakhstan. By then, with a net worth of $300 million, the 35-year-old Ablyazov had become one of the wealthiest individuals in the country.

However, the following year, the banker left the government and opposed President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In November 2001, Ablyazov and like-minded individuals (including the governor of Pavlodar region Galymzhan Zhakiyanov) formed the political group “Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan”, which advocated for the decentralization of political power, a strong legislative power and an independent judiciary. In October 2002, a DCK rally occurred in Alma-Ata, with an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 protesters participating.

In March 2002, Mukhtar Ablyazov was arrested, but by May of the following year, Nazarbayev, under pressure from the European Parliament and Western human rights organizations, pardoned him, releasing him from further serving his sentence. After his release, Ablyazov relocated to Moscow and focused on the development of BTA Bank. In 2008, under Ablyazov's leadership, BTA Bank became the largest financial institution in the country and the leader in its lending (30% of all loans). However, Ablyazov also spent millions of dollars financing opposition groups and independent media.

Accusations of stealing billions of dollars

The tensions between the opposition and the government increased, and in 2009, the nationalization of BTA Bank was announced. Interestingly, today the “nationalized” BTA-Bank, according to the SPARK database, continues to operate successfully and is 100% owned by the Kazakh oligarch Kenes Rakishev.

© SPARK

At the same time, Ablyazov was accused of fraudulent activities with land near Moscow, in which he participated as the owner and chairman of the board of directors of BTA Bank from 2005 to 2008. Criminal cases against him were initiated not only in Kazakhstan, but also in Russia and Ukraine, where BTA-Bank had broad business interests.

The investigation alleged that he stole about 6 billion dollars or 58 billion rubles. For instance, according to the investigation, BTA-Bank provided five offshore companies with $200 million each to purchase land in the Domodedovo district. Ablyazov intended to build a “Russian Oxford” and a “Russian Hollywood” there. Ultimately, only $150 million was spent on the purchase of the plots, and the rest of the money disappeared.

According to the investigation, the oligarch established a shadow bank within BTA that oversees the issuance of loans, Russian commercial real estate and a land bank. In Russia, the embezzlement case involving BTA-Bank funds amounted to about 400 volumes. According to the investigation materials, from May 2006 to January 2009, the banker organized a scheme to obtain large loans from the bank for companies under his control, leading to the purchase of hundreds of hectares of land in Domodedovo, Podolsky and Mytishchi districts. Several of Ablyazov’s partners in Russia have already received lengthy prison terms in this case. In December 2020, the Tagansky District Court of Moscow sentenced Ablyazov in absentia to 15 years in prison.

Photo © Shutterstock

Banker in exile

After the case started, Ablyazov quickly left Kazakhstan, saying the charges were politically motivated. He was put on the wanted list by law enforcement officers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. He traveled to different countries in Europe, living on a passport from the Central African Republic, which he and his relatives obtained illegally using a fake Kyrgyz ID-card.

After a long period of adventurous travel, the banker settled in London, where he continued to fund the Kazakh opposition. For example, he financed the 2011 riots in the western city of Zhanaozen. At the same time, the oppositionist Ablyazov lived lavishly and avoided paying taxes. English judges found him guilty of contempt of court and falsifying evidence, and sentenced him to 22 months in jail for not disclosing assets, including a nine-bedroom mansion in London's Billionaire Row and a 100-acre estate in Windsor Great Park. Ablyazov also rented a 15,000-square-foot mansion on Bishop Avenue in London.

The pro-Western Ablyazov fled from British justice and Kazakhstan to France. In interviews, he explained that he would have served his sentence, but allegedly received information that the KNB was planning to kill him in prison, so he fled.

Photo © TASS / AP / Thibault Camus

French police arrested Ablyazov in 2013 in the village of Mouan Sartoux, near the city of Grasse, at Russia's request. He was held in custody until December 2016. Russia sought his extradition, but Ablyazov, with the help of European human rights activists, convinced the court that extradition would subject him to ill-treatment and an unfair trial.

Meanwhile, new details of Ablyazov's criminal activities have emerged in Kazakhstan. In 2004, during a hunt, the chairman of BTA-Bank, Yerzhan Tatishev, suddenly died, after which the bank was led by Ablyazov. In 2017, Muratkhan Tokmadi, who fired the fatal shot, unexpectedly announced on KTK TV that he had shot Tatishev allegedly on Ablyazov's order, confirming this in court while imprisoned. The accused's wife, Jamilya Aimbetova-Tokmadi, reported online that her husband was being tortured in prison.

In June 2017, a Kazakh court found the banker guilty of forming a criminal group and embezzling funds from BTA Bank, sentencing him in absentia to 20 years in prison with property confiscation. In October 2020, Ablyazov was also charged with breach of trust and aggravated money laundering by a Paris court. He remained free, posting bail of half a million dollars.