- Banker’s spouse Zamira Hajiyeva spent £16m purchasing at Harrods over a decade
- Her husband Jahangir was chair of the Worldwide Financial institution of Azerbaijan’s board
- He’s serving 16 years in Baku for fraud, abuse of workplace and embezzlement
The spouse of a jailed ‘McMafia’ banker has agreed to surrender a golf membership in Ascot and a £14million Knightsbridge mansion following an investigation into fraud and embezzlement.
Zamira Hajiyeva spent £16million purchasing at Harrods in a decade, and the Supreme Courtroom upheld two unexplained wealth orders in opposition to her.
Often called ‘McMafia orders’ – after the BBC gangland drama – the seizures had been requested by the Nationwide Crime Company (NCA) in 2018, and so they grew to become the primary ever granted within the UK.
Mrs Hajiyeva’s husband Jahangir was chairman of the board of the Worldwide Financial institution of Azerbaijan (IBA).
He’s serving a 16-year jail time period in Baku after being convicted of offences together with fraud, abuse of workplace and embezzlement.
Zamira Hajiyeva, spouse of jailed ‘McMafia’ banker Jahangir Hajiyeva, has agreed to surrender a golf membership in Ascot and a £14million Knightsbridge mansion following an investigation into fraud and embezzlement
Zamira Hajiyeva spent £16million purchasing at Harrods in a decade, and the Supreme Courtroom upheld two unexplained wealth orders in opposition to her
The house of Jahangir and Zamira Hajiyeva in Knightsbridge, purchased in 2009 for £11.5million
NCA investigators tracked funds from the IBA being transferred by means of accounts in jurisdictions together with the British Virgin Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Panama, Cyprus and Luxembourg.
The cash was then channelled into luxurious property for the Hajiyev household.
A British Virgin Islands firm solely owned by an affiliate of Jahangir was used to purchase the five-bedroom mansion earlier than the property was transferred into an offshore belief, additionally arrange within the BVI.
In her try and thwart the order, the Excessive Courtroom heard Mrs Hajiyeva splashed out greater than £16m on purchasing sprees at Harrods between 2006 and 2016 – together with £600,000 in someday.
Courtroom paperwork revealed that she spent £4million at jewellers Boucheron, in addition to £1m within the toys division and £30,000 on sweets from the Belgian model Godiva.
Her greatest identifiable single invoice was £433,389 for Cartier jewelry.
She additionally made frequent journeys to the shop’s Caviar Home champagne bar and spent almost £2,000 in a Chinese language restaurant.
Among the many extra uncommon funds was £99,574 on the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which provided the prospect for youngsters to be remodeled right into a Disney hero.
Mrs Hajiyeva has a grown-up daughter from a earlier marriage and two sons with Jahangir, who’re additionally each understood to be adults.
A trustee will public sale off the 170-acre Mill Experience Golf Membership in Berkshire and the mansion in central London, that are thought to have a mixed worth of £26.5m.
The Authorities will obtain 70 per cent of the proceeds from their sale, minus the NCA’s prices.
The courts discovered that the properties had been purchased because of felony exercise however made no discovering over Mrs Hajiyeva’s information of how they had been paid for.
The Mill Experience golf membership close to Ascot in Surrey was purchased for £10.5m
Often called ‘McMafia orders’ –after the BBC gangland drama – the seizures had been requestd by the Nationwide Crime Company
Mrs Hajiyeva’s husband Jahangir was chairman of the board of the Worldwide Financial institution of Azerbaijan (IBA) and is serving a 16-year jail time period in Baku after being convicted of offences together with fraud, abuse of workplace and embezzlement
NCA commander Tim Quarrelle stated: ‘This outcome comes nearly six-and-a-half years after we served Mrs Hajiyeva with the primary unexplained wealth order ever granted, and highlights our dedication to utilizing all of the instruments at our disposal to fight the circulation of illicit cash into, and thru, the UK.’
The company’s deputy director Simon Armstrong stated: ‘This implausible outcome demonstrates how the NCA will deploy all of the powers accessible to determine, pursue and recuperate the proceeds of crime.’
