Azerbaijan, Baku, May 1 / Trend E. Kosolapova/
Companies linked to Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive ex-chairman of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank, misled a London court and don't have a valid defense to the lender's case against them, a judge ruled on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.
The court "had indeed been seriously misled" by the companies, Judge Stephen Tomlinson said.
The eight companies' appeal against a court ruling that they failed to prove they weren't tied to Ablyazov's alleged fraud was rejected by Tomlinson. The ruling means a court can rule in favor of Almaty-based BTA without the companies being able to defend themselves.
The criminal case against Mr Ablyazov was launched in early 2009. He is alleged to have conducted fraud amounting to $3 billion while in charge of the BTA Bank. After the case began Mr Ablyazov fled to the UK claiming asylum against political persecution. In May 2011 the British court refused to recognize claims that the case was politically motivated and upheld the bank's claims. The holding companies, accused of fraud, all registered in the British Virgin Islands or the Seychelles, were sued by BTA in one of a series of lawsuits to recover about $1.5 billion the bank claims was stolen by Ablyazov.
In February, 2012 the High Court sentenced Mukhtar Ablyazov to 22 months imprisonment for contempt of court. However, the sentence has not been carried out so far, because his whereabouts has not been established. According to the English newspaper, The Telegraph Mr Ablyazov had left the UK to France.