Ablyazov retains right to borrow funds for defense

London’s Court of Appeal has upheld Mukhtar Ablyazov’s right to borrow money for his legal expenses, The Lawyer writes. Lord Justices Beatson, Rimer and Floyd unanimously decided that freezing all Ablyazov’s assets does not prevent him from obtaining loans to fund his legal proceedings. Ablyazov has been funding his defense through loans issued by third parties for some time already, but after the London court denied him the right to defend in court for contempt of court BTA Bank filed a statement asking to deprive Ablyazov of the right to borrow. BTA supported the statement by saying that loans were assets and since Ablyazov's assets had been frozen the right to borrow from third parties should have been frozen as well. However, the Bank’s application was dismissed. Earlier London’s High Court barred lawyers of the former head of BTA Bank Mukhtar Ablyazov from making oral submissions because of their client’s numerous obstructions of justice. Mukhtar Ablyazov is accused of embezzlement of over $6 billion from BTA Bank. The trial was initiated by the Bank in London back in 2009. The bank’s claims legitimacy was acknowledged by court in May 2011. The court sentenced Ablyazov to 22 months in jail for contempt of court for lying about his assets and violating the court's freezing order issued in 2009. Later the court deprived Ablyazov of the right to defend in court. The ex-banker is currently on the run. Recently Spanish court ordered to extradite Aleksandr Pavlov, head of the Ablyazov’s security service , to Kazakhstan. Pavlov, accused of terrorism and of illegally obtaining a 22.5 million Euro loan from BTA Bank, is known to be a trusted person and head of the security service of the former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank Mukhtar Ablyazov who fled Kazakhstan to avoid justice.