Journalists have discovered how one of the assets confiscated in the embezzlement case involving JSC Bank of Astana ended up back in the ownership of the family of the bank's former head, Olzhas Tokhtarov.
According to the Telegram channel «Nege.Aqsha», it concerns a Pavlodar brewery valued at 4.9 billion tenge.
It is reported that the brewery was originally owned by JSC Rosa, controlled by Olzhas Tokhtarov's father, Tanirbergen Tokhtarov, a former deputy. After the enterprise failed to repay a loan previously taken from JSC ATF Bank, the brewery's assets were put up for auction.
Soon after, a company called LLP Zhanarosa was created, registered to a person affiliated with Olzhas Tokhtarov. Later, this firm received a loan of 1.8 billion tenge from the Bank of Astana. According to reports, this money was used to participate in the auction and purchase the brewery's assets from ATF Bank.
"As a result of an unlawfully adopted decision, the bank's loan funds totalling 1.8 billion tenge were used for Tokhtarov O. to acquire the Zhanarosa LLP brewery through affiliated persons," the court noted.
Later, the court established that LLP Zhanarosa had been registered to relatives of Olzhas Tokhtarov. The plant was managed by his father, and the founder of the new company was Tokhtarov's cousin, Fuat Satybayev. According to the prosecution, senior positions were filled by former employees of the Bank of Astana.
At the same time, it was noted that the loan to Zhanarosa was issued with serious violations: without collateral, in the absence of financial guarantees, and despite negative profitability. This contradicted the bank's rules.
For context, at the end of April, a sentence was handed down in Astana to employees and top manager of JSC Bank of Astana, Olzhas Tokhtarov. They were found guilty of embezzlement disguised as the provision of agency services and the illegal alienation of business centres in Almaty during the pre-bankruptcy period.
The court found Tokhtarov guilty and sentenced him in absentia to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property totalling more than 14 billion tenge. At the same time, his subordinates among the former branch managers were also found guilty. According to some media reports, Tokhtarov is currently in Turkey.