Key facts

Since August 2009 when the Bank commenced proceedings against Ablyazov, his companies and his associates, it has pursued an intensive process to locate and recover assets worth as much as $6 billion. Here are ten key facts about the case are:

1. BTA Bank has brought 11 claims in the UK High Court of Justice against Mukhtar Ablyazov and his companies and associates. There are numerous defendants, based in 7 jurisdictions.
2. Mr Ablyazov repeatedly breached the freezing order granted by the UK courts and continued to deal with the assets despite the UK Court placing the assets in receivership.
3. Mr Ablyazov was sentenced to 22 months in prison for contempt of court in February 2012 for lying to the court and consistently failing to comply with court orders.
4. Mr Ablyazov fled the UK in 2012 before he could be imprisoned.
5. The UK court ordered that unless Mr Ablyazov provided full and proper disclosure of his assets and surrendered himself to the Court, he would be debarred from defending the claims brought against him by the Bank.
6. Mr Ablyazov failed to comply with the Unless Orders, therefore in November 2012, the Bank was granted default judgment against Mr Ablyazov in the DCM and Drey Proceedings for over $2 billion
7. The Court went on to grant default judgments against Mr Ablyazov and his associates in the Granton, Drey and Chrysopa proceedings for approximately $1.5 billion.
8. In November 2013, the High Court handed down judgment in the AAA proceedings, finding that on the evidence of the case Mr Ablyazov had committed fraud. The Court granted the Bank approximately $400 million in damages, which brought the total amount of judgments in favour of the Bank to over $4 billion.
9. Mr Ablyazov was found by French special forces in a villa in Cannes on 31 July 2013.
10. On 4 March 2015, the French Court of Cassation granted both Russia and Ukraine’s requests to extradite Mr Ablyazov. The Courts in Aix-en-Provence and Lyon had also previously ruled in favour of extradition. Mr Ablyazov remains detained in French prison pending a decision on his extradition by the French Prime Minister.