The bandit of Baku

Renegade Czech financier Viktor Kozeny is soon to face in court angry American investors who claim he bilked them in a fantastic scheme to acquire Azerbaijan’s state oil company. From his luxury Bahamas base, Kozeny has been telling any journalist who will listen that he has few assets left to seize, while issuing wild threats to expose his accusers and even to sue the president of Azerbaijan. The ending to this colourful tale of greed and double-dealing in a wild frontier market may yet come down to dense legal arguments over trading records. Ben Beasley-Murray reports