ALMATY, April 11 (RAPSI) – The Supreme Court of France has vacated a ruling on the extradition of fugitive ex-CEO of BTA Bank Mukhtar Ablyazov because of an administrative error by the court, according to the statement of Antonin Levy, legal consultant to BTA Bank in France.

Specifically, Ablyazov had not signed the official protocol as required.

He fled to the UK after the Kazakh government acquired a stake in the defaulted BTA in 2009 and the bank came under the control of its sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna. Ablyazov, 50, is accused of embezzling billions of dollars from BTA.

He was granted political asylum in the UK, but left the country a year later when a High Court judge in London sentenced him to 22 months in prison for contempt of court.
Ablyazov was detained on July 31 near Cannes, France. Kazakhstan sought his extradition at that point, but Kazakhstan and France do not have an extradition treaty. 
Russian and Ukraine both sought his extradition as well.

On January 9, the court of Aix-en-Provence ruled to extradite Ablyazov to Russia or Ukraine, with the priority given to the Russian side. His defense team has filed cassation appeals challenging the extradition ruling.

BTA has filed 11 law suits in London accusing its former top management of embezzling $6 billion. Ablyazov claims the charges against him are politically motivated.

The High Court ordered Ablyazov to pay $400 million in damages to BTA in November after ruling that the bank had been defrauded of $300 million in a case relating to a portfolio of AAA-rated securities.