Key Successes

The bank has made significant progress in recovering assets. Some notable successes include:

1. Worldwide freezing order and receivership over disputed assets

   Throughout the proceedings, the Bank has won important orders to help it identify and protect the disputed assets. The extent of Ablyazov’s alleged fraud led the UK High Court to take the unprecedented legal step to grant the Bank a Worldwide Freezing Order over Ablyazov’s assets on 13th August 2009.

   On August 13, 2009, the High Court of England issued an order for the freezing of all assets owned by Ablyazov, Solodchenko, Zharimbetov and others as an interim measure for the Bank's claim. The High Court order extends to all assets, regardless of their location.

   In September 2009, an appeal against the disclosure orders made by Mr Ablyazov and six accomplices was rejected. In July 2010, the court ordered Mr Ablyazov’s assets to be put in the receivership of KPMG because he had breached the freezing orders. The scope of the Receivership Order was unprecedented. The Orders gave the receivership the right to recover a network of many hundreds of entities, worth billions of dollars.
   Court Order - Receivership Order
   Court Order - Receivership Order
   Carlton House Property
   Carlton House Property
   Oakland Park Estate Property
   Elizabeth Court Property

2. Contempt of Court and Ablyazov’s committal

   Mr Ablyazov was committed to prison for contempt of court. This was because he consistently lied to the court (and the Bank), failing to disclose assets and even dealing with assets in receivership.

   The Bank succeeded in winning court orders to imprison Mr Ablyazov for 22 months on 16th February 2012, having previously won court orders to imprison several of his associates. All parties have since fled the jurisdiction.

3. Rejection of Ablyazov’s appeal

   On 6 November 2012, the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the judgments against Ablyazov. In the judgment, Lord Justice Maurice Kay stated; “It is difficult to imagine a party to commercial litigation who has acted with more cynicism, opportunism and deviousness towards court orders than Mr Ablyazov.”

4. Court judgements for over $4 billion

   The Bank has been granted judgments in five of the 11 claims against Mr Ablyazov and his associates and has been awarded over $4 billion in damages by the UK High Court.

   In November 2012, the Bank was granted default judgments against Mr Ablyazov and his associates in the Drey and DCM Proceedings for more than $2 billion in favor of the Bank .
   Court Order - Drey Proceedings
   Court Order - DCM Proceedings

   In March 2013 the Bank was granted further default judgments in Granton and Drey proceedings for approximately $1.5 billion.
   Court Order - Granton Proceedings

   In November 2013, the UK High Court considered the evidence of the case in the AAA proceedings and found that Mr Ablyazov committed fraud against BTA Bank. The Court ordered a further $400 million in damages in favour of the Bank.
   Court Order - AAA Proceedings

As a result of the decisions made in the four mentioned proceedings (Drey, Granton, DCM and AAA), the total debt of Ablyazov and his associates to the Bank amounted to more than $ 4.8 billion.

On July 14, 2014, the court declared that Mr. Zh.Zharimbetov is the sole beneficial owner of Broad Walk and the enterity of the issued share capital in Smaland.
Court Order - Broad Walk Proceedings

On April 22, 2016, the High Court of London issued a ruling granting the right to sell real estate objects located at the following addresses: Longwood, Waverley Drive, Virginia Water, Surrey GU25 4PZ.
Court Order - Mr.Zharimbetov's property

On July 25, 2016, the High Court of London issued a decision granting the right to sell the property located at: Apartment 10, Unwin Court, 1 Beaumont Close, London (London).
Court Order - Mr.Zharimbetov's property

On September 9, 2016, the High Court of London ordered that the Property of Mr. Zharimbetov located at Levens, 9 Broad Walk, Winchmore Hill, London N21 3DA shall be sold without further reference to the Court .
Court Order - Broad Walk Sale Proceedings

5. Ablyazov’s arrest and the extradition case in France

   After an ongoing search spearheaded by BTA Bank, on 31 July 2013 French special forces found and arrested Mr Ablyazov in a luxury villa in France. Mr Ablyazov was detained in a French prison and the court has refused to release him on bail three times. Over the last two years, the courts of Aix-en-Provence, Lyon and the Court of Cassation have consistently found that Mr Ablyazov should be extradited to Russia or to Ukraine. He remains in prison pending a decision on his extradition by the French Prime Minister.