French court orders Ablyazov extradited to Russia or Ukraine

05.03.2015
    Former billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov, who fled what was the biggest ever fraud case to be heard in the UK, has been ordered by a French court to be extradited.
    Mr Ablyazov skipped Britain in 2012 after being sentenced to prison for contempt of court.
    After going on the run for over a year, he was eventually tracked down by private investigators who tailed a friend to a villa in which he was hiding near Cannes in the South of France. The investigators tipped off the police and Mr Ablyazov was arrested in a dramatic raid by special forces.
    Since then, with the help of a high-profile campaign by his photogenic wife and daughter, he has been fighting extradition to Russia and Ukraine.
    Mr Ablyazov is accused of having embezzled up to $6 billion (