ALMA-ATA, April 6 - RAPSI. Kazakhstan's BTA Bank has warned of a liability for transactions involving assets of its former chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov now seized by court; the bank has also been working on returning the assets, BTA reports.

A criminal case against Ablyazov was initiated in early 2009 after the state acquired a stake in BTA and the bank slipped under the control of Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna sovereign fund. Ablyazov then fled the country and is now living in the UK. He considers the charges against him politically motivated.

The message reminds that the bank filed several lawsuits against its ex-chairman and the High Court of Justice passed several resolutions in the lawsuits prohibiting transactions with any Ablyazovs assets whether he owns them directly or not.

The court has also transferred control over the assets and the companies he owns to KPMG .

Ablyazov was recently sentenced to 22 months in prison for breaching court orders and is now hiding from justice. The bank hopes to secure and enforce court decisions for the return of its $5 billion.