To whom it may concern,
ATM – investors’ portuguese association is gathered by more than 1400 members. ATM was formed to represent the interest of individual shareholders and other investors in listed securities. Among our goals it can be found the promotion of investor’s confidence in the markets by the defence of legal certainty and fair and equity legal solutions. The prosecution of the responsible people of financial frauds is essential for the confidence in the international financial system.
Currently, the theft of billions of dollars from the Kazakh bank BTA is one of the most important financial fraud in history and it is being prosecuted in many countries. The leader of the charged organization is considered Mr. Mukhtar Ablyazov and among his partners the Kazakh prosecutors have identified Mr. Alexandr Pavlov. There are criminal and/or civil proceedings in Kazakhstan, Russia, USA, Lithuania, Poland, Austria, Ukraine, Hungary, Spain, United Kingdom, Cyprus and the BVI.
Mukhtar Ablyazov fled a British jail sentence in 2012 and in 2015 has been ordered by the French Prime Minister to be extradited to Russia to face fraud charges. This extradition is currently pending.
Mr. Alexandr Pavlov is at the present time in Spain and in February 2015 the Spanish Courts granted him asylum not allowing Kazakh judges to prosecute the ascribed crimes and establish the possible liability in this multimillionaire fraud of Mr. Alexander Pavlov. From ATM we want to claim our most deep rejection to the fact that this BTA scam would not be prosecuted. We cannot accept that the asylum legal figure is used to give shelter to the fraud and the international scam and in that way avoid the prosecution of the supposed responsible. Judges must be able to probe and prosecute these very serious facts that may undermine the investor’s confidence in the markets.
ATM together with Better Finance and all 40 European assocations of investors will work in clarifying responsibilities arising from Mukhtar Ablyazov’s and his accomplices in any of the jurisdictions where Better Finance is active.
The investigation and prosecution of these unquestionable criminal facts is totally congruous with the respect to the guarantees and the defence right of the prosecuted which must be absolutely granted in any event. All of this when the Kazakhstan Republic has signed several Human Rights Instruments, like the Treaty of International convention of Civil and Political Rights and Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Sincerely,
Octávio Viana
(President of the Board of Directors)
