On the court in the US, his memory began to fail

Rucriminal continues its series of articles on the American testimony of Kazakh oligarch Kenes Rakishev. These statements were made by Rakishev during the U.S. court proceedings, where BTA Bank’s lawsuit against the former bank owner Mukhtar Ablyazov, former head of Kazakhstan’s capital Viktor Khrapunov, and his son Ilyas Khrapunov was being examined. The legal team representing the Khrapunovs aimed to argue that Rakishev was merely a nominal owner of BTA Bank, asserting that the actual control of the bank rested with influential figures at the “top” of Kazakhstan. These individuals were alleged to be orchestrating the persecution of Ablyazov and the Khrapunovs. Rakishev disclosed the names of these high-ranking figures with whom he personally interacts, including Karim Masimov, the head of the KNB; Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of Kazakhstan’s leader; and Nursultan Nazarbayev himself. All these names were documented in Rakishev’s interrogation records, a certified copy of which is in possession of Rucriminal. According to Rucriminal, these suspicions were substantiated during the hearings. When questioned about specific activities of BTA Bank during his tenure as chairman of the board of directors, Rakishev responded with statements such as “I do not know,” “I was not informed,” and “Ask the bank’s lawyers.” Furthermore, when asked about his thoughts on the economy of a particular company whose fate was discussed the previous day, Rakishev candidly admitted, “I do not understand and do not have any opinions.”

Q. Do you know that BTA reached an agreement with Eesh Aggarwal?

R. I do not know which agreement you have in mind. I do not know about that. I just know that Eesh Aggarwal is a witness. …

Q. Do you know that BTA entered into an arrangement with a man named Felix Sater?

R. No, I do not know.

Q. Do you know that BTA entered into an arrangement with Daniel Ridloff or Kevin Mayer?

R. No, I do not know.

MISTER. SCHWARTZ: Objection.

Q. Do you know a person named Philipe Glatz?

R. No.

Q. Do you know anything about how Mr. Glatz wanted to purchase SDG?

R. No.

Q. Do you know that BTA and Almaty have transferred cases against Joseph Chetrit and the companies that he owns?

R. Yes.

Q. Do you know that BTA and Almaty have resolved the issue with claims to Chetrit?

R. I do not know any details.

Q. Do you remember the discussion of a settlement agreement with Chetrits with Nulan Nurgabylov?

MISTER. SCHWARTZ: Objection.

R. In general, Mr. Nurgabylov does not report progress to the Board of Directors with claims.

Q. But do you remember the specific conversation with Mr. Nurgabylov regarding the settlement with Chetrit?

R. No, I do not remember.

Q. Have you ever spoken with Joseph Chetrit?

R. Yes.

Q. How many times?

R. Once.

Q. When was it?

R. Yesterday, this was the first time, and it was yesterday.

Q. What’s the conversation about?

R. About Flatotel.

Q. What about Flatotel?

R. About Flatotel economy.

Q. What is your understanding of Flatotel economics?

MISTER. SCHWARTZ: Objection.

R. I still do not understand it in full.

Q. What do you understand about Flatotel economics?

R. I do not understand.

Q. What is Mr. Chetrit saying?

R. There are no specifics.

Question: So what did Mr. Chetrit say?

R. We actually agreed that our lawyers should start communicating with each other.

Question: About what?

R. I think it’s better to turn to lawyers. They must answer this question.

Videographer: We have 5 minutes left on the DVD.

Videographer: We turned off the recording. The time is 4:15 pm

Videographer: Now we are on record. Time 4:21 pm This begins DVD № 4.

MIZ. Mikhelson: I want to ask a forensic reporter to mark as Annex 3, a document with Bates ALMATY BTA 0162920 through 934.

(Rakishev Annex 3, documents bearing the stamp of Almaty point BTA 0162920 Almaty BTA 0162934, marked for identification.)

Question: Mr. Rakishev Annex 3 is an amicable agreement between Almaty and BTOM and also by Joseph Chetrit. Have you ever seen this document before?

R. Only yesterday during the preparation for this hearing. My lawyers showed it to me.

Q. Did BTA receive compensation from Chetrits?

MISTER. SCHWARTZ: Objection.

R. I do not know. I do not know any details of this agreement. I saw him yesterday for the first time, so I can not tell you anything.

Q. You can put it aside. You testified earlier that you had a conversation with representatives of law enforcement agencies in Russia and Kazakhstan, is this correct?

R. Yes.

Question: Did SDG or Triadou, any of their affiliates or affiliated companies, rise during these conversations?

MISTER. SCHWARTZ: Objection.

R. No.

Q. You know that BTA was trying to receive Shabriye Avocats documents?

MISTER. SCHWARTZ: Objection.

R. What did you say the name?

Q. Chabrier Avocats, a law firm in Switzerland.

MISTER. SCHWARTZ: Objection.

R. No, I do not know.

Q. Are you familiar with this firm?

R. First time I hear.

MIZ. Mikhelson: No further questions about Triadou.

MISTER. SCHWARTZ: Anything else? Nothing.

Videographer: We turned off the recording. Time 4:25 pm This ends today’s deposition.

(Time noted: 4:25 hours)

CERTIFICATE

I confirm that witness Rakishev was sworn in by me.

Registered: October 11, 2017