Asia Universal Bank

Now dissolved, Asia Universal Bank (AUB) was the largest commercial bank in Kyrgyzstan, holding about a quarter of the combined assets and deposits reported by the entire Kyrgyz banking system. The bank was highly regarded internationally, and received a number of awards, from organizations such as The Banker, Global Finance, The Asian Banker and Euromoney, but subsequently fell from grace.

AsiaUniversalBank
TypeJoint Stock Company
IndustryBanking
Founded1997
HeadquartersBishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Key people
Nurdin Abdrazakov, CEO

Bob Dole, Director Bennett Johnston, Director Michael Mered (Russian: Майкл Меред), Director and former Kyrgyz IMF representative

Michael Fox-Rabinovich, Lev Grozhonko, Robert Genkin, Evgeny Gurevich,[lower-alpha 1] Rustam Akzholov, Andrei Galitsky, Alexandra Katrin, Aleksey Eliseev
ProductsFinancial services
Websitewww.aub.com www.aub.kg

Operations

Originally focused on corporate banking, AUB had actively expanded into retail banking and was the fastest growing mortgage provider in the country. At the time of its existence AUB was the only company in the country to have received an international credit rating. However, following the fall of the Bakiyev regime the bank was nationalised following a wide scale money laundering scandal.

AUB operated 90 branches in the Kyrgyz Republic and had representative offices in Riga, Latvia, which opened in 2002, Kyiv, Ukraine and Almaty, Kazakhstan.[8][9][10][11][12]

History

On 22 August 1997, the International Business Bank was established with a branch in Kyrgyzstan which became the AsiaUniversalBank (AUB) in 2000.[13]

For $150,000 in 1999, Mikhael Nadel (Russian: Михаэль Надель),[lower-alpha 2] a Russian businessman, purchased from a Western Samoan bank known as the International Business Bank its Kyrgyz subsidiary and renamed it Asia Universal Bank in 2000.[17][12]: 45  Prior to beginning his operations in Kyrgyzstan, Nadal had similar operations in independent Ukraine.[18][19]

Through accounts at AUB, very large sums were allegedly money laundered in a scheme involving Maxim Bakiyev, son of the former Kyrgyzstan president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, while the younger Bakiyev was chairman of the board of directors at the Kyrgyz Development Fund.

In 2006, Central Bank of Russia declared AsiaUniversalBank as undesirable.[17]

According the Party of Regions' accounting book (Ukrainian: "амбарну книга"), Paul Manafort, who after the Orange Revolution provided strong support to Viktor Yanukovych, received funds in his Wachovia bank account in Virginia from the Party of Regions via the Belize based Neocom Systems Limited's AUB account on 14 October 2009.[20][21][22][23] On 30 July 2014, Manafort was questioned by the FBI about his Wachovia bank account and his relationship with Neocom Systems which he had never heard of Neocom.[24][25]

After the 7 April 2010 revolution, AUB was declared insolvent in October 2010, nationalized, and broken up.[21][12]: 11 [lower-alpha 3]

In April 2011, Mikhail Nadel was found guilty of numerous crimes including money laundering in absentia by a Kyrgyz court.[12]: 15 

Notes
  1. Yevgeny Gurevich (Russian: Евгений Гуревич; born 1987 or 1988 Soviet Union) is a United States citizen since 1990 that lived in Long Island City, New York and had experience in investment banking and management consulting. He was the executive director of MGN Group CJSC, which was one of Kyrgyzstan's most powerful conglomerates and was formerly known as the financial and investment company Chronus Capital, the President of Virage Consulting Ltd. from 2001 to 2007, which is a US-based management consulting company, a director of Asia Universal Bank (AUB) from 2006 to 2009, a Senior Vice President of the Africa Investment Bank, and the personal financier of Maxim Bakiyev. MGN Group CJSC is believed to be named for Maksim, Gurevich, and Nadel, which is the last name of businessman Mikhail Nadel. In March 2010, he was accused of money laundering more than $2 billion for the 'Ndrangheta which were supporting the former Italian Senator Nicola Di Girolamo. To support the illegal scheme, Gurevich allegedly opened accounts for the firms Global Phone Network Srl and Planetarium Srl in Vienna with several Austrian banks including Raiffeisen Zentralbank, Bank Austria Creditanstalt, which is now known as UniCredit Bank Austria, and Anglo Irish Bank's Austrian branch located in Vienna. In 2011, Gurevich was sentenced in absentia to 15 years imprisonment in Kyrgyzstan for corruption. In 2018, charges against Gurevich were dropped by Kyrgyz Prosecutor General’s Office and his name was removed from Interpol's database.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
  2. Mikhail Nadel (Russian: Михаил Надель; born 1968 or 1969), also known as Michael Strogonov, was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison in Kyrgyzstan for fraud and money laundering and was convicted in absentia and was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for fraud and money laundering at AsiaUniversalBank (AUB). In May 2018, he described himself as a Russian based in Italy during his filings in the United Kingdom with the Financial Conduct Authority for his firm Dzing Finance Ltd. Iveta Kerpe, who is the chief financial officer (CFO) of EMI Dzing since spring 2020, was involved in the 2014 $1 billion money laundering scheme involving the Ukraine based PrivatBank's Latvian branch and Moldova. Vitaly Orlov's (Russian: Виталий Орлов) former wife is the main shareholder of Dzing. Vitaly Orlov owns the Karat group (Russian: группа «Карат»).[14][15][16]
  3. In February 2009, Kurmanbek Bakiyev with support from Konstantin Kilimnik and Paul Manafort decided to close the United States airbase at Manas.[26][27]

References
  1. Князев, Александр Алексеевич (Knyazev, Alexander Alekseevich) (15 March 2010). "А.Князев: Страна - "гигантская криминальная прачечная". Киргизский цейтнот с итальянским оттенком" [Alexei Knyazev: The country is a "giant criminal laundry". Kyrgyz time pressure with an Italian touch]. ЦентрАзия (centrasia.org) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Виллэн, Филип (Villain, Philip) (10 March 2010). ""San Francisco Chronicle": Гуревич-гейт. Кыргызстан оказался в центре международного криминального скандала" ["San Francisco Chronicle": Gurevich Gate. Kyrgyzstan found itself at the center of an international criminal scandal]. San Francisco Chronicle (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022 – via ЦентрАзия (centrasia.org).{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Original article was in English. Alternate archive
  3. Химшиашвили, Полина (Khimshiashvili, Polina) (25 February 2010). "Прокуратура Рима расследует одно из крупнейших мошенничеств" [Rome prosecutor's office investigates one of the biggest frauds]. Vedomosti (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Егикян, Седа (Yeghikyan, Seda) (10 March 2010). "У мафии на хорошем счету: оказалось €2 млрд в австрийских банках" [Mafia in good standing: there were €2 billion in Austrian banks]. Kommersant (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "Yevgeny Gurevich". rumafia.net. 12 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  6. "Business Associate Of Kyrgyz President's Son Wanted By Italy". Radio Free Europe. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  7. "Evgeniy Gurevich, friend of Maxim Bakiev, no longer wanted by Interpol". 24.kg. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  8. "Correspondent bank network". AUB.kg website. February 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  9. "История АзияУниверсалБанка" [History of AsiaUniversalBank]. AUB.kg website (in Russian). December 2008. Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  10. "Офисы Банка в других странах" [Bank offices in other countries]. AUB.kg website (in Russian). February 2009. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  11. "Филиальная сеть" [Branch network]. AUB.kg website (in Russian). April 2009. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  12. "Grave Secrecy: How a Dead Man Can Own a UK Company and Other Hair-raising Stories About Hidden Company Ownership From Kyrgyzstan and Beyond" (PDF). Global Witness. June 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  13. "The history of AsiaUniversalBank". AUB.kg website. February 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  14. "Convicted in Kyrgyzstan Mikhail Nadel emerges with alias in the U.K." 24.kg. 4 February 2022. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  15. Griffin, Donal (2 February 2022). "Banker Linked to Kyrgyz Fraud Emerges With Alias at U.K. Fintech: Michael Strogonov, who registered Dzing, is also Mikhail Nadel. Nadel was convicted in absentia amid Kyrgyz bank collapse". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  16. Leask, David; Smith, Richard (8 July 2020). "Will the e-money boom make the UK a hub of money laundering?: openDemocracy investigation finds that international money launderers are moving into Britain's e-money business – with the Financial Conduct Authority's official seal of approval". openDemocracy. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  17. Вокруг Новости staff (1 September 2009). "Младший сын президента Бакиева Максим и его друзья из MGN Group осуществили финансовый захват Киргизии" [The youngest son of President Bakiev Maxim and his friends from MGN Group carried out the financial seizure of Kyrgyzstan]. ПрессНаз.ру (in Russian). Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2021 – via "Вокруг новостей" (Vokrug Novosti) (vokruginfo.ru). Archived from pressnaz.ru on 7 September 2009. Archived at compromat.ru on 1 September 2009.
  18. "Младший сын президента Бакиева Максим и его друзья из MGN Group осуществили финансовый захват Киргизии" [The younger son of President Bakiyev Maxim and his friends from the MGN Group carried out a financial takeover of Kyrgyzstan]. vokruginfo.ru (in Russian). 1 September 2009. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2022. Alternate archive
  19. Киселева, Елена (Kiselyova, Elena) (8 July 2009). "Киргизский банк наследил в Москве: Милиция заинтересовалась партнерами Азияуниверсалбанка" [Kyrgyz bank left legacy in Moscow: Police interested in partners of Asiauniversalbank]. Kommersant (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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  21. Rickleton, Chris (23 August 2018). "What was Manafort actually doing in Kyrgyzstan? The U.S. lobbyist was allegedly trying in 2005 to plead with Bishkek to close a US airbase". Eurasianet (Eurasianet.org). Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  22. Лещенко, Сергій (Leshchenko, Serhiy) (21 March 2017). "Манафорт і Янукович відмивали гроші через Киргизстан" [Manafort and Yanukovych laundered money through Kyrgyzstan]. Українська правда (Pravda.ua) (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 24 July 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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