The Court of Appeal has this morning unanimously delivered its judgment in a case involving the alleged theft of over US$150 million by Maksat Arip and Baglan Zhunus, the previous directors and shareholders of London-listed Kazakhstan Kagazy Plc (KK). The Court rejected Mr Arip’s appeal against the worldwide £72m freezing injunction initially granted by the Commercial Court in August 2013.

The injunction will remain in place until the trial and judgment of KK’s US$150 million fraud claim against Mr Arip. His former co-director and shareholder, Mr Zhunus, has previously given the Court an undertaking in lieu of the injunction against him.  The defendants deny any wrongdoing.

The Court of Appeal refused permission for Mr Arip to appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court.

The injunction was first obtained in August 2013, after KK discovered that sums had been channelled into corporate vehicles connected to the defendants. In November 2013, His Honour Judge Mackie QC in the Commercial Court dismissed Mr Arip’s application to discharge the Freezing Injunction, a decision which Mr Arip then appealed to the Court of Appeal.

The Appeal judges commented that Mr Arip “accepts before us that there is a good arguable case that he defrauded Kazakhstan Kagazy in the manner alleged by them”, with his only disclosed defence being based on Kazakhstan’s rules of its three-year limitation period.

Lord Justice Elias observed that “it is inherently unattractive for the Appellant to submit that the fraud should have been manifestly obvious and yet at the same time to assert that he has a complete defence to the allegation.”

Lord Justice Jackson expressed unease at the prospect that the defendants, if they are ultimately successful in defeating the claim on the basis of a limitation argument, “might then have achieved the ‘perfect’ fraud. The money which has been stolen (over US$100 million) will become irrecoverable”.

He also observed that the principal losers by the Appellant’s alleged fraud are the creditors of, and investors in, KK and it would be appropriate for them to take a close interest in this case. The principal creditors of KK are two Kazakhstan State-owned banks: Alliance Bank and Development Bank of Kazakhstan. KK’s shareholders include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which has its headquarters in the City of London.

A spokesperson from Kazakhstan Kagazy said:
“We are pleased that the Court of Appeal judges were unanimous in maintaining the freezing order against Mr Arip in the face of his challenge.

“The Kazakhstan Kagazy board believes that this legal action is vital in defending the reputation of Kazakh businesses and the efforts of their hard-working employees.  

“We will continue to pursue this claim with vigour to prove the Group’s allegations and will take all available steps to recoup the millions which the board believes have been stolen from the Kazakhstan Kagazy Group.”

Sarosh Zaiwalla, Senior Partner at Zaiwalla & Co, Kazakhstan Kagazy’s solicitors said:
“The English courts have, at every stage, consistently rejected Mr Arip’s attempts to overturn the freezing order. Once again, the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal have proved themselves as beacons of justice. That is why people from all over the world treat the Commercial Court as a truly International Court to resolve their disputes.

“We are now focused on moving forward to the fraud trial.”

For further information, contact:
Neil Cameron, +44 (0)207 861 2497 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Stuart Leach, +44 (0) 207 861 2848 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.