Missing Banker in Kazakhstan Accused of Fraud Is Arrested in Southern France Mukhtar Ablyazov, a Kazakh businessman accused of embezzling $6 billion from BTA, a bank he once controlled, has been arrested near Cannes in southern France, a police official said. A court hearing was scheduled for Thursday. Mr. Ablyazov fled Britain last year after a judge sentenced him to 22 months in prison for contempt of court; he had been in hiding since then. Mr. Ablyazov, an entrepreneur and former Kazakh government minister, fled Kazakhstan in 2009 after BTA was seized by the government and declared insolvent. He was granted political asylum in Britain in 2011. The bank, controlled by Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund, has brought 11 fraud charges against Mr. Ablyazoy in a complex legal battle; to date, the bank has won court approval to seize $3.7 billion of his assets. He has denied any wrongdoing.