MOSCOW (City Court press service) — Russia has agreed to extradite former Kazakh banker Zhomart Yertayev.

Zhomart Yertayev

“The Moscow City Court has notified the decision of the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation to extradite Yertayev to the competent authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is recognised as legitimate and justified”, the Moscow City Court Press Service confirmed on Friday.

In addition, the Moscow City Court clarified that the decision on the recognition of the legality and validity of Yertayev’s extradition by the competent authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan was taken today.

Previously, it was reported that the detention at Moscow of Zhomart Yertayev had been extended. “Person — Zh. Yertayev, article 160, paragraph 4 [*] of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation; the category of the case concerns the extension of the duration of detention; the current state is satisfied on 25 December 2018”, says the document on the website of the Presnensky District Court of the Russian capital on 3 January.

The duration of the detention was not specified in the document, but in the file, it was indicated that initially this coercive measure against Yertayev was decided by the court on 20 December.

Zh. Yertayev was arrested on May 8, 2018 in Moscow. According to the Kazakh police, as an advisor to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank RBK, he allegedly lobbied for a bank loan of over $80 mln from a direct LLP borrower. He also allegedly took measures not to return the borrowed funds. Yertayev himself stated that he “had never worked for RBK Bank” and that the company had received a loan, controlled by Dinmukhamed Idrisov (Kazakhstan), Ordabasy Communications, and that the money had been transferred to his personal accounts. The preliminary investigation concerning Yertayev in Kazakhstan is being conducted under article 177 (4) (fraud) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Subsequently, the former banker was released and sought political asylum in Russia. On 8 October, it was reported that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had refused to extradite Yertayev to Kazakhstan, but on 15 November, it was reported that he was again being arrested and detained.

From 2002 to 2007, Yertayev was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alliance Bank JSC; later he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of BTA Bank (Ukraine); Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eurasian Bank JSC (Almaty). Since 2010, he has worked as a consultant to the Board of Directors of Bank RBK JSC. Since 2011, he has been managing the Eurasian Financial Advisory Centre. Since November 10, 2014, he has been Chief Executive Officer of Alma-TV.