In the Zhambyl region, land that was illegally transferred as collateral several years ago was nearly sold at auction. The Zhambyl Regional Court's Civil Division reviewed a case involving an appeal by the prosecutor against a decision by the Taraz City Court from July 13, 2018. The city court had denied a complaint by the company "Nogaybai-Kazexim" regarding the actions of a private bailiff in declaring the auction results protocols illegal.
The Supreme Court stated that in 2006, 16 land plots totaling over 14,000 hectares were transferred to BTA Bank as collateral based on a loan agreement between the bank and Kazexim LLP. The land users only learned about the loan agreement and collateral in September 2010. The general director of Kazexim LLP, Mukhtar Ablyazov, and other members of the organized group were convicted in 2010 and 2017 for their actions.
Due to non-repayment of the debt in 2011, the prosecutor of the Zhambyl region filed a lawsuit on behalf of BTA Bank. The court ruled in favor of the bank, ordering Kazexim LLP to pay over 3 billion tenge in debt by seizing the defendants' property. In September 2016, the private bailiff initiated enforcement proceedings and auctioned off five land plots in 2018.
The court concluded that the city court's decision in 2018 was illegal as the land plots were unlawfully transferred to Kazexim LLP and should be returned to the residents of Kordai district. This ruling aimed to protect the rights and interests of the land users. The resolution has now come into legal force.
During the trial for embezzlement from BTA Bank, it was revealed that Ablyazov and his associates embezzled over 58 billion rubles from the bank between 2006 and 2009. They did this by issuing loans using land plots as collateral, acquired with borrowed funds. Ablyazov later illegally terminated the loan agreements, preventing the bank from seizing the collateral, while his accomplices disposed of the property at their discretion.
On June 7, 2017, the Specialized Inter-District Court in Almaty found Ablyazov guilty and sentenced him to 20 years in prison for creating and leading a criminal group, embezzling 7.5 billion dollars from BTA Bank, equivalent to 1 trillion tenge, and money laundering.
