Bernie and Sir Allen may need elaborate schemes to swindle people out of billions, but in the emerging markets, fraud tends to be a bit more direct. Take for example Kazakhstan. While some may look to bad loans as the primary culprit for the outbreak of restructurings, one bank was being victimized by the time honored tradition of theft.
Abylkasym Mamyrbekov, ex-deputy chief executive of Alliance Bank, is accused of using deceptive accounting practices to shift 1.1 billion dollars (744 million euros) into privately held offshore bank accounts.
How exactly could the #2 in charge of the fourth largest lender in Kazakhstan get away with a ten-figure heist? Surely the guy in charge must have been keeping a watchful eye over his empire to guide it through the crisis.
The company's former chief executive, Zhomart Ertayev, was also arrested over the scheme in August.
Then again, you never leave your wing man.
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 10:34AM
I read the title and knew this was a GM story.
Oh, tldr.
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 10:42AM
Greg, I'm going to invite you over for a game of Pin the AIDS Needle on the Blogger.
-Jeff Macke
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 10:44AM
Buyakasha!
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 10:57AM
Greg, I am going to sell you to ill tempered gypsies.
-Jeff Macke
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 10:57AM
Mark Haines is melting down on CNBC as Erin interviews a Wellpoint exec....!!
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 10:57AM
Greg - you have an uncanny talent for picking the least interesting news stories! How do you do it time after time? How many other stories do you discard as potentially holding some interest? You fascinate me!
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 10:58AM
Oops...it was Maria not Erin
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 10:59AM
I actually enjoyed this. First time in a long time.
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:06AM
Anyone that does deals in a place ending in "stan" deserves all that's coming to them.
Just sayin'
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:08AM
Greg -
Please move to Kazakhstan. They may enjoy the crap you write.
Borat
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:08AM
Greg,
youre now linking to msn news. has typing in bloomberg.com become to arduous for you?
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:09AM
@8
YOU LIE!
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:09AM
1 DB post every hour is weak.
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:15AM
Good find, Greg! Want to have lunch with me today and talk about the inequities of divorce law?
-Mark Klein, MD
Posted by Ben_H , Sep 23, 2009 11:19AM
A nice scheme. These guys had Alliance provide guarantees to offshore companies that in turn borrowed from offshore banks using the Alliance guarantee. ALliance collateralized the guarantee with its portfolio of US Treasury securities. The treasuries remained on balance sheet, with no disclosure that they were pledged. When Alliance finally blew up, the offshore banks seized the treasuries. Unpleasant surprise for Alliance's creditors and bondholders!
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:26AM
that's an hilarious image!
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:32AM
@8 - I agree with you. I enjoyed it. Seriously.
I think I need to start drinking immediately so I can make ill-tempered comments on the rest of Greg's posts today.
Posted by Potable Alpha , Sep 23, 2009 11:37AM
@ Ben_H,
Hahaha, Big Ben strikes again. Man, I loved the comments you sent with the afternoon marks at HBK. Is QS still around?
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 11:39AM
@13 i love the little bitches who feel the need to leave dick comments b/c DB isn't giving them stories fast enough.
Posted by CoveredLong , Sep 23, 2009 11:49AM
@19 - You love them? That's a little weird.
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 12:07PM
I agree with @8 as well. Keep your posts like this, Greg
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 12:20PM
Greg, I am going to slowly increase the resistance of the keys on your keyboard so as to induce carpal tunnel and force your early retirement.
-Jeff Macke
Posted by Ben_H , Sep 23, 2009 12:53PM
@Portable. Yup, still here. My comments are on hiatus though (except here, of course!)
Posted by guest , Sep 23, 2009 1:22PM
greg, that totally didn't suck. attaboy!
Posted by nasty piece of work , Sep 24, 2009 6:51AM
@15 - even more egregious IMO is the offshore banks buying protection on the guarantees and then when everything went pop dumping them into the ISDA auction...taking cheapest to deliver to a very unpleasant extreme...