British court seizes £5.6m linked to Azeri politician

The money was linked to the 'Azerbaijan Laundromat' – a massive money-laundering operation

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev with his wife Mehriban Aliyeva. AFP

A British court has ordered the family of a wealthy politician from Azerbaijan to hand over £5.6 million ($7.52m) that ended up in British bank accounts through a sophisticated international money laundering operation.

The money was part of £15.3 million frozen in the accounts of the wife, son and nephew of Javanshir Feyziyev, a serving Azerbaijan MP and chairman of the UK-Azerbaijan All Parliamentary Co-operation Committee.

It was linked to the so-called Azerbaijan Laundromat, a money-laundering operation and slush fund that handled $2.9 billion over two years through four shell companies registered in the UK, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which exposed the scheme in partnership with a group of international newspapers.

The origin of the fund is not clear but reports said there was evidence it was linked to the family of Ilham Aliyev, who has served as president for nearly two decades. Authorities in Azerbaijan said the claims were biased.

Money was moved via a complex network of companies that operated bank accounts in Estonia and Latvia. Some of the transfers were accompanied by documents, appearing to show legitimate business deals.

The revelations showed that Azerbaijan’s leadership made thousands of covert payments between 2012 and 2014. Millions of dollars ended up in the accounts of luxury car dealerships, football clubs, travel agencies, hospitals and overseas politicians.

The £5.6 million was forfeited after a three-week hearing where the judge ruled that documents had been falsified to disguise the laundering of criminal money.

Soldiers carry a 440-metre-long Azerbaijan national flag to celebrate Victory Day, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 8, 2021. AP Photo

Andy Lewis, Head of Civil Recovery at the National Crime Agency, said: “This is a substantial forfeiture of money laundered through the Azerbaijan laundromat, and our success highlights the risk to anyone who uses these schemes.

“We were able to recover these millions without needing to prove the exact nature of the original criminal activity. We will continue to use civil powers to target money entering the UK via illegitimate means.”

The NCA seized £4m from the Javadovs, a politically-connected Azerbaijani family, in a case last year.

Mr Feyziyev has denied money laundering. He has previously taken legal action against the OCCRP over two articles.

“The adverse findings in this matter relate to money which, before it was paid to Dr Feyziyev, flowed through various intermediaries of which the family had neither knowledge, nor control,” a representative for the Feyziyev family said.