Founder of the “Royal Time Group”, a pioneer of the gambling business in “Azov-City” is on the international wanted list for embezzlement
Rashid Taimasov bet on the wrong zone
Rashid Taimasov headed the Royal Time Group company – in 2010 it opened the Oracle casino in the Azov City gambling zone, which was closed in 2018. A year later, the court declared the company bankrupt, it had a debt of more than 1.5 billion rubles. Businessman Rashid Taymasov, who built the first casino in the Russian gaming zone, was arrested in absentia and put on the international wanted list, TASS reports with reference to the press service of the Meshchansky Court of Moscow .
“In relation to Taymasov, an arrest was chosen for 2 months from the moment of his transfer to law enforcement agencies of Russia in the event of his extradition or deportation to the territory of Russia, or from the moment of his actual detention on the territory of Russia. He has been put on the international wanted list,” the court said.
Earlier, a law enforcement agency source said that the businessman was arrested in absentia as part of a criminal case on embezzlement on an especially large scale.
Taimasov was the general director of the Royal Time Group company – until 2009, until gambling was limited in Russia, she managed a casino in Kamsky Polyany in Tatarstan. In 2010, the company became the main investor in one of the first Azov City gambling zones, which was located on the border of the Krasnodar Territory and the Rostov Region, Kommersant wrote.
In the same year, she opened the first Oracle casino there, and further investments were planned in the Azov City project. In addition, Royal Time Group developed gambling business in other Russian gambling zones – in Primorye, Altai Territory, Kaliningrad Region.
Back in 2015, the authorities decided to liquidate the Azov City zone, since instead of it they created another one, in Sochi. The project was finally canceled in 2018. After that, Royal Time Group tried to sue the authorities of the Krasnodar Territory for compensation for lost profits.
In 2019, the company filed for its own bankruptcy. By that time, her debts amounted to about 1.5 billion rubles. The Tatarstan Arbitration Court eventually declared Royal Time Group bankrupt. The company’s projects were financed by Tatfondbank, whose license was revoked back in 2017.
In the 2000s, he was the manager of one of the largest development companies Suvar-Kazan, then he bought out the gambling subsidiary of Suvar-Kazan – Royal Time Group. By this time, he already had experience in running a gambling business – in Kamskiye Polyany (50 km from Nizhnekamsk), as well as in Yerevan. On January 30, 2010, Taimasov’s company opened the Oracul casino in the Azov City gambling zone in the Krasnodar Territory, which became the first legal casino in the Russian Federation after the introduction of restrictions on gambling activities in the country. By 2014, Royal Time launched the second and third stages of the Oracul gambling complex, which included a new hotel complex with a casino. The total investment amounted to 3.4 billion rubles. The Royal Time company has already filed several lawsuits in arbitration demanding that the administration of the Krasnodar Territory pay compensation in the amount of 2.5 billion rubles for lost profits, in the future the volume of claims was to grow to 14 billion rubles. The Tatarstan Arbitration Court denied the claims, and Taimasov tried with all his might to challenge these decisions.
According to the Kazan portal 116.ru, in March 2022, the property (casino building, hotels and eight more technical facilities) of the bankrupt Royal Time Group was acquired by Alexei Boikov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Territory from the LDPR party. At the auction, he offered 102 million rubles for this lot.
In 2018, Taimasov was declared bankrupt. The Tatarstan Arbitration Court decided to sell his property to pay off debts. Law enforcement agencies told TASS that the businessman was a guarantor for loans that Royal Time Group took from Tatfondbank to develop the gambling business in Azov City and other gambling zones. The Deposit Insurance Agency then presented the founder of Royal Time Group with claims in the amount of more than 400 million rubles.
And the “gambling king” is wanted: how Rashid Taimasov and the tops of “Timer Bank” “redeemed” loans for a billion

“Of course, I don’t admit guilt in this absurd accusation,” Ramil Nasyrov, former first chairman of the board of Tatfondbank, said in court on Monday. The investigation and prosecution considered him the creator of a criminal group, which included the ex-head of Timer Bank Airat Kamalov, the “gambling king” Rashid Taimasov and “unidentified accomplices.” Together, according to a simple plan developed by Nasyrov, they allegedly stole 935 million rubles. But if the former bankers were detained, then Taymasov managed to escape from the court. Details of the accusation announced by him are in the material “BUSINESS Online”.
Ramil Nasyrov (left) and Airat Kamalov
In the Vakhitovsky court – a new case of bankers
In the Vakhitovsky court, which has now become the last refuge for the former eminent bankers of Tatarstan, Ramil Nasyrov and Airat Kamalov appeared accompanied by escorts. In the corridor of the former tops, a “support group” was waiting – two women and four men, with whom the defendants greeted without hiding their smiles and as far as the escorts allowed them, to whom they were handcuffed. “Wow,” Nasyrov said, surprised either by the journalistic cameras, or by the presence of people he knew. By the way, the support group was allowed to the meeting in full force. Although since the time of the “covid” restrictions, listeners (namely, this is how those who came) have not been favored in the courts.
Judge Rufina Gazizova at the beginning of the meeting found out if there was someone at the trial who would later appear in court as a witness. The lawyers shook their heads. As it turned out later, those who came were relatives and acquaintances of Kamalov and Nasyrov, who wanted to resolve the issue of a date. And, of course, to see at least for a short process. Apparently, even the decision of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan, which last week overturned the decision to extend the arrest of Kamalov and Nasyrov, did not inspire hope in them. By the way, until today the fate of the materials is unknown – they have not yet returned to the Vakhitovsky court. The term of imprisonment of former bankers in a pre-trial detention center will end on September 20.
Unlike numerous listeners, the representative of the injured party, Timer Bank JSC, did not appear at the meeting. We decided to start without him.
According to the protocol, the court established the identity of the defendants. Nasyrov said that he is 40 years old, he is a candidate of science with a higher education. Single, no children – apparently, he devoted his whole life to a career. Last place of work – Vice President for Strategic Development of PJSC Moscow Credit Bank.
Kamalov recently turned 44, he has two higher educations, a wife and four children, three of whom are minors. Prior to his arrest, he worked as a secretary of the Avtodor state company.
After all the formal procedures were completed, Lenara Churkina, the prosecutor of the prosecutor’s office of the Republic of Tatarstan, read out what the former bankers were accused of.
The version of the prosecution: how the tops of TFB and Timer Bank did business with the “gambling king”
The only episode that Kamalov and Nasyrov are charged with revolves around loans to Royal Time Group LLC. The firm was a major investor in Russia’s first gambling zone in the Krasnodar Territory, Azov-City, its founder is Kazan businessman Rashid Taimasov. In 2019, she was declared bankrupt due to a debt of 1.5 billion rubles, and a year before that, the court declared Taymasov himself bankrupt.
So, in 2013-2015, Royal Time Group received 935 million 889 thousand 939 rubles from the TFB under loan agreements. In turn, Taimasov’s company pledged land in the Zelenodolsk region as collateral for loans. In particular, in the villages of Urazla, Bolshiye Yaki and the village of Nikolskoye. The lands are quite extensive – plots with an area of hundreds of thousands of square meters turned out to be pledged, and, for example, one plot in the village of Bolshiye Yaki was 2.8 million square meters at all. meters. Thus, the loans of the Taimasov empire were secured by 24 plots near Kazan.
Nasyrov, the prosecutor recalled, since December 2015, he served as First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Tatfondbank PJSC. That is, in fact, he was the right hand of Robert Musin, who is now being judged in the second round. And since June 2016 – also the chairman of the board of directors of Timer Bank. Naturally, Nasyrov knew about this large credit line of a top client, the prosecution believes. And he allegedly had a criminal intent to steal money from the bank. To do this, the person involved came up with a scheme that consisted in withdrawing collateral and selling the debt to Timer Bank. However, he understood that things would not work alone.
Nasyrov, according to the prosecution, distributed the roles in the criminal group. “Illegal misappropriation of funds on an especially large scale was planned by Nasyrov, Kamalov and Taymasov in stages, over a long period of time,” the prosecutor said about the preparation of the crime. The plan was as follows: withdraw collateral on loans, sign an assignment agreement between the TFB and Timer Bank, and then turn the money that Timer Bank would transfer to Tatfondbank “in favor of Taymasov and unidentified accomplices.”
Taimasov is wanted, but the tops of “Timer” do not admit guilt
The implementation of the plan began on October 24. Then Nasyrov, as the first deputy chairman of the TFB, convened a meeting of the credit committee and organized a decision on the withdrawal of collateral, the prosecution believes. The minutes of the meeting were signed personally. And then, already at Timer Bank, he organized a meeting of the board of directors, where he raised the issue of approving an agreement under which the bank would buy Royal Time Group loans from the TFB. At the same time, Nasyrov knew that in this way the bank would buy obviously bad loans that were not secured by collateral. But, as the prosecution is sure, he signed the minutes of the meeting of the board of directors that approved the deal.
Then Kamalov stepped in. He allegedly on the same day instructed his subordinates to prepare an assignment agreement. Together with Nasyrov (on behalf of the TFB), they sealed the document with their signatures. And by the end of the day, 935 million rubles were received from the Timer Bank account in the TFB – to the penny – 935 million rubles, which “the accomplices disposed of at their discretion.”
The role of Taimasov, judging by the accusation read out, was simple – not to pay on loans that were transferred to Timer Bank and actually cost nothing, because they were not secured by collateral.
Nasyrov and Kamalov are charged under Part 4 of Art. 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Assignment or embezzlement committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale”). The maximum punishment that threatens bankers is 10 years in prison.
Nasyrov said that he did not agree with the version of the investigation. “Of course, I don’t plead guilty to this absurd accusation,” he told the judge and wanted to tell his version of what happened. But the judge stopped him: all the explanations – during the interrogation. Kamalov also did not agree with the charges.
The case against Taymasov has been separated into a separate proceeding, and therefore he will no longer be on the same bench with Nasyrov and Kamalov, no matter when he is detained. Now he is wanted.