Our latest publication on the conflict between entrepreneur Bekzhan Kulbayev and a group of «buddies» led by Chairman of the Board of Directors and co-owner of Bank CenterCredit JSC Baknytbek Bayseitov as well as Chairman of the bank’s Management Board Galim Khusainov has caused a big stir among those who is familiar with the story and its subcurrents. This, among other things, is quite clear from the comments on the article.
We will allow ourselves to quote some of the most interesting and informative ones. Here they are; we present them without editor’s alterations but broken into paragraphs so it will be easier to read them.
Bender Ostap Ibragimovich
October 24, 2019 12:08
The raiders from Bank CenterCredit JSC — TP Energy are using two schemes to take over the Kulbayevs’ property with the bank’s participation — creating the rights for the mortgaged property and strong-arming them into making the deal. The realization of the schemes has been initiated not only by bankers Bayseitov and Khusainov and «usurers» Ushbayev and Tulegenov but from the outside as well — by the dishonest officers of the law-enforcement agencies.
As we know, at Bank CenterCredit, they had formed a specialized and mixed group that would choose the «good» assets from the bank’s loan portfolio and take over them according to the aforementioned schemes with the bank’s support (we are talking about the TP Energy company created by the raiders): Erbol Tokkozhin, Anuar Ushbayev, Albar Tulegenov. In the legal trials, the raiders are relying not only on the law but on the administrative resource as well.
So, for instance, the raiders have repeatedly contacted Rakhat Darmesh, a son of former Prosecutor General of the Republic of Kazakhstan, so that his influential father would assist them in reviewing the civil and criminal cases opened against the Kulbayevs. There is word that, based on their request, the police had tried to unofficially pressurize the Kulbayevs’ family and friends. The appearance of the lobbyists in the story is, too, a clear sign of corporate raiding.
Ostap Bender, who knew a lot of ways how to seize someone’s money but did not have such powerful benefactors, seems like a loser by comparison. And the simple truth lies in usual hiding of the facts of transferring Bank CenterCredit’s loan proceeds to the personal account of Rakhat Darmesh, the son of Kazakhstan’s ex-Prosecutor General, who provided the raiders with a 4.3 $ mln and earned 206 mln tenge over a two-month period.
BCC Insider
October 24, 2019 12:23
«Based on the information provided by our insiders, the key participants of the business-conflict on the part of Bank CenterCredit JSC including Bakhytbek Bayseitov and Galim Khusainov have urgently begun to „save“ the situation. It is indeed so: on October 9, 2019, Director of the Almaty City Branch of Bank CenterCredit Shegebayev N.U., sent an angry latter #234/3124 to Flamma LLP demanding (and I quote) „to present all the initial documents necessary for the monitoring of the purposeful use of the loan proceeds“ and threatened it with a fee in the amount of 25% of the sum of the loan proceeds used for a purpose other than as intended.
Of course, the banker did not say anything specific in regard to presenting the information on the transferring of the US6 $ mln of loan proceeds to the Mangistau Oil Resources company affiliated with Bank CenterCredit and its Chairman Bayseitov B.P. personally, but now, by the looks of it, this issue will be dealt with by the representatives of the prosecution office and the investigative authorities.
BCC Oil
October 24, 2019 12:59
If the top-management of Bank CenterCredit JSC has become concerned about the issues of the purposeful use of the loan proceeds provided to Flamma LLP and are even prepared to impose the punitive sanctions, then, in return, I call the attention of Messrs. Bankers to insider information related to this issue that will serve as an indicator (litmus paper) of the bank’s top-management’s integrity since we are talking about the persons affiliated with them.
So, for instance, on March 26, 2019, the Agreement on providing a temporary financial assistance was signed between Flemma LLP and TP Energy LLP in the amount of 29 194 930 tenge (contract duration — until December 31, 2019). In violation of the terms of the loan contract, the said Agreement was signed by Director of TP Enerdy LLP Tulegenov Akbar who is currently dismissed by Flamma’s top-management (he is overseeing the corporate conflict with the Kulbayev family, is in contact with the representatives of the law-enforcement agencies including Darmesh Rakhat, the son of former Prosecutor General of the Republic of Kazakhstan Daulbayev A.).
The aforementioned money was withdrawn from company Flamma’s current assets in violation of the credit terms, converted and moved abroad to the account of the Saigak Kazakhstan B.V. company. According to information received, the aforementioned sum is not planned to be returned and its return would only be possible via the law-enforcement officials exerting pressure on the transaction participants or by Bank CenterCredit JSC (the latter is quite doubtful given the bank’s top-management’s affiliation and involvement).
Rat catcher
October 24, 2019 14:59
On October 13, in Netherlands, they held a trial related to the question on the first chairman of Saigak Kazakhstan B.V. (currently, these duties are performed by Kulbayev Bekzhan). This company is the operator of the Temir oil field located in the Aktobe region and is affiliated with Flamma LLP, BCC’s borrower.
So, recently, a group of raiders from Kazakhstan arrived at Amsterdam in order to participate in the trial and, most importantly, to introduce a new chairman, a certain Mr. Erol Sisanovic. Of course, it all resulted in embarrassment: several days before the trip, Erol Sisanovic had vanished without a trace, stopped contacting others and answering the phone calls from the representatives of the bank and TP Energy.
There is word that that the reason for the disappearance of „the titular chairman“ (this is how „eternal“ director Erol Sisanovic is called in the narrow circles) was his „exposure“ in the comments at the kz.expert portal forum. Particularly, the commentators had uncovered that the newly-minted chairman had criminal contacts with, for instance, businessmen connected to the Four Brothers (Chetyre Brata) organized criminal group that was once active in the Aktobe region as well as that he had the familial relations with infamous oilman Almaz Kuzhagaliyev from Aktobeneftepererabotka LLP sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment (he was accused of creating a transnational criminal group engaged in the illegal trade of crude oil). The rats are leaving the ship…
Egghead
October 24, 2019 19:53
The current „toxic“ situation with BCC and its co-owners have been created artificially, by efforts of the interested parties that have promised to Mr. Bayseitov and Mr. Khusainov a civilized realization of the project related to the interests of Messrs. Kulbayevs. These people, apart from creating the problems for BCC, have put under fire the Daulbayev family that has been sold on the „commercial confidentiality“ concept and „got exposed“ with the multimillion loan agreement; these people have also used the Morgan Lewis international legal firm to its own advantage.
It was they who had participated in the „sawing up“ of the BCC loan and carried out the forgery of the documents mentioned in the article. It was they who also had been moving the money from Flamma’s floating assets though the fake supply agreements and the temporary financial aid agreements (including the agreement mentioned by commentator BCC Oil). It was they who assigned themselves the salaries in the amount of 6 mln 250 thousand tenge per month.
Unfortunately, we know the names of the „heroes“. These are the infamous Messrs. Ushbayev Anuar and Akbar Tulegenov. Therefore, Messrs. Bayseitov and Khusaimov may thank their „colleagues“ for the gift in the form of the pre-trial investigation that starts by November 15, 2019, which is the Financer’s Day in Kazakhstan. Let us hope they greet this day in good health and out of prison.
Erbol Tokkozhin
October 24, 2019 20:29
According to information received, top-managers and owners of Bank CenterCredit JSC Bakhytbek Bayseitov and Galim Khusainov have been trying to distance themselves from the heating up scandal related to the conflict with entrepreneurs Kulbayevs and place the blame on the affiliated persons from the TP Energy company — Anuar Ushbayev and Akbar Tulegenov. Moreover, lately, the bankers have stopped financing the events related to the takeover of the Kulbayevs business and begun to raise grievances with the borrower according to the standard procedure (the last statement can be confirmed via the information provided by commentator BCC Insider).
The politization of the process after establishing the presence of the business-contacts of the raiders with the son of the former Prosecutor General who had incautiously provided a multimillion-dollar loan from his personal resources that perhaps have some relations to the money moved from BTA Bank (which, indirectly, is confirmed by the involvement of condemned Maksatbekuulu and his wife as well as Darmesh, Ushbayev and Tulegenov in the Visor company) has added fuel to the controversy.
Thus, the motives of bankers Bayseitov and Khusainov that have been trying to leave the game are clear and understandable. Of course, the brokers from TP Energy who, via the criminal case, are hoping to tie BCC with the „toxic“ project and use the lost administrative resource as well as the bank’s money are not keen on it. The question is do Bakhytbek Bayseitov and Galim Khusainov need this?
BCC Insider — IT
October 25, 2019 10:36
I am just letting know the readers of the kz.expert portal that Bank CenterCredit JSC has invented a know-how in in its fight with undesirable borrowers. Particularly, in his letter (#234/3370 of October 16, 2019), Director of the Small and Medium-Size Business Sales of the Almaty City Branch of Bank CenterCredit JSC Kismetov E.M., informs the top-management of Flamma LLP that „the bank has made an unfavorable decision regarding the changes in the credit line provision agreement № В20/2018/U/S/ 24497 of June 25, 2018 related to the exclusion of subsection 4.2.18.5 and section 4.2.18“.
Put it simply, banker Kismetov E.M. has informed Mr. Kulbayev Zhan Rakhimzhanovish that BCC (specifically, the Management Board with its head Galim Khusainov) are against his being appointed the CEO of Flamma LLP on August 12, 2019. With that, strange as it may seem, the bank does not explain the reasons for its extraordinary decision that, by the way, does not fall under its competence and, moreover, it was Kulbayev Zhan Pakhimzhanovich who, on June 26, 2018, was given Bakhytbek Bauseivot’s personal guarantee related to the loan repayment in the amount of US6 $ mln.
By the looks of it, it was this circumstance that served as the reason for the bank’s pained reaction and for the appearance of the said letter that directly confirms the fact that BCC’s top-management is clearly not interested in the return of Kulbayev Zhan Rakhimzhanovich to the post of the CEO of the company-borrower, Flamma LLP. The reason is simple: the Kulbayev family intends to conduct the revision of the activities of the previous top-management affiliated with the group of raiders from BCC and TP Energy and ask Mr. Bayseitov B. the questions related to the repayment of the 6 $ mln moved to the Mangistau Oil Resources company».
Let us take a pause and review this comment.
The thing is that the scheme of acquiring the US6 $ mln via the transit through the companies-borrowers Flamma LLP and Mangistau Oil Resources (of which we have spoken repeatedly in our numerous publications) by Chairman of the Board of Directors and co-owner of Bank CenterCredit JSC Bakhytbek Bayseitov has one weak spot.
We are talking about the fact that, in Kazakhstan, no one has been taking anything for granted for a long time. Therefore, here is a legitimate question: how the managers of Flamma LLP had dared to borrow twice as much as they needed and then transferred 6 $ mln to another judicial body just like that?
Now it is becoming clearer as to why (quoting): «it was Kulbayev Zhan Pakhimzhanovich who, on June 26, 2018, was given Bakhytbek Bauseivot’s personal guarantee related to the loan repayment in the amount of US6 $ mln».
It explains everything and it puts everything in its place. The thing is that the entrepreneur who was in an urgent need of a substantial sum of money agreed to do a favor to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and a co-owner of the loan-providing bank and borrowed more money than he needed against the personal guarantee of this person that the money would be returned. In the past, such obligations (usually called the «safe» ones) used to be quite popular in the country but the fact that they are still being used is a news to us.
The only thing that is still unclear is how the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan will feel about the said practice and what steps it will take in regard to Bank CenterCredit JSC and Mr. Bayseitov personally.
Logically, the head of the regulator must summon the latter «to give a sworn testimony» and find out how many other such papers he signed. For the scheme of moving large sums of money from the bank (the scheme that lies outside of the National Bank’s area of involvement and is not reflected in the bank’s initial documents and its financial reports) may very well be regarded as criminal given the sufficient insistence on high standards on the part of the regulator.
The only question is whether it will be done or whether the law-enforcement bodies of Kazakhstan will pay more attention to the person involved than to their actions.
Well, we would like to end this material with a note that the case of the conflict between entrepreneur Bekzhan Kulbayev and a group of «buddies» headed by Chairman of the Board of Directors and co-owner of Bank CenterCredit JSC Bakhytbek Bayseitov and Chairman of the Management Board of the bank Galim Khusainov is quite deserving of entering the study guides of the financial and economic departments of universities. And, apart from everything else, it explains why the country’s investment climate is far from being perfect.
In conclusion, let us present you with yet another comment on our previous publication since it describes a possible version of how the events may unfold in this future.
BCC Insider
November 5, 2019 05:38
BCC IS UNDER FIRE YET AGAIN. The scheme with the bank frame-up was carried out by the raiders from the TP Energy company under the leadership of attorney «Egghead». So, for instance, an open hearing on requesting the documents from company KMP affiliated with the raiders is to be held at 3 p.m. on November 11, 2019, at the Bostandysk District Court of the Almaty city.
The claimant (CEO of Flamma LLP Kulbayev Zh.R.) asks the court to take the founding and other company documents out of the foreign unlawful ownership. With that, the claimant names Bank CenterCredit as a third party. The thing is that company KMP controlled by the «Egghead» had previously provided the legal and consulting services to Flamma LLP; the latter, however, relinquished the services after the change of its management on September 2, 2019 and demanded to return the documents and the data base 1 °C: the Enterprise.
In violation of the Kazakh law, the «Egghead» told to his subordinates and business-partners that, under no circumstances, were they to give the aforementioned documents and the data base to the Kulbayev family. The reason lied in the fear that the revisor and the Kulbayevs might be able to obtain the information on the accounts to which Flamma’s money was moved including the 29 194 930 tenge transferred by the «Egghead» personally to the account of the TP Energy raiders in accordance with the temporary financial aid agreement (and this, despite the fact that this money should have been used for repaying BCC’s loan).
Thus, the «Egghead» and his accomplices, «usurers» Ushbayev and Tulegenov, have put together an operation of involving Bank CenterCredit in a legal trial this realizing their ultimate goal — to tie bankers Bayseitov and Khusainov to their own «toxic» project and shady deals.
