Aliyev’s cousin brought £14 million from Azerbaijan to UK through money laundering, Evening Standard reveals
15:29,
YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. A British court has revealed the identity of the couple who illegally brought £14 million to UK through the “Azerbaijan laundromat”, Armenpress reports citing Evening Standard.
Izzat Khanim Javadova, an oligarch’s daughter who performs as a DJ using the name Mikaela Jav, and Suleyman Javadov are accused by the National Crime Agency of using the proceeds of corruption to finance their life in the capital.
It is trying to seize their multi-million pound bank accounts and has told a court that the money is being laundered in this country after being transferred here via a complex web of transactions, including fake invoices for vast quantities of steel, to hide its illicit origin.
The pair own several London homes between them worth millions of pounds, including a flat in Whitehall with views over the Thames, a riverside home in Twickenham, and an upmarket apartment in Clerkenwell.
They are also understood to own a villa overlooking the sea in Ibiza and a luxury flat on the party island, as well as an extensive property portfolio in Azerbaijan.
They deny any wrongdoing and had managed to persuade the courts to keep their identities secret until now on the grounds that revealing their names would damage their reputation.
But in a victory for the Evening Standard, which has been fighting a court battle for nearly two years to have the veil of secrecy lifted, an anonymity order protecting them finally expired today to allow the couple to be named.
Ms Javadova is the cousin of Azerbaijan’s ruler Ilham Aliyev and the daughter of a former Azerbaijan MP Jalal Aliyev, the former ruler’s brother. She came to London at least ten years ago and was given a visa by the Home Office because of her wealth.
She set up a London company called Love the Underground Records and used it to stage dance parties in parties in London at venues including Kensington Roof Gardens and numerous events in Ibiza.
A forfeiture hearing at which the National Crime Agency is seeking to seize around £6.5 million in accounts at Coutts, Barclays, Lloyds, Metro Bank and Santander held by either Mr Javadov or Ms Javadova is due to be begin next week.
The couple have claimed in evidence to investigators that their wealth came from rental income from their property portfolio in Azerbaijan.
But the National Crime Agency has told Westminster Magistrates court that it believes the true source was corruption and that any genuine income did not match the large sums sent to London.
The court documents allege that the money sent to the Javadovs’ accounts came via 21 “brass plate” companies operating from locations ranging from the Seychelles and the Marshall Islands to Potters Bar and Ayr and banks in Estonia and Latvia.
They say that six of these companies have been named separately as part of the “Azerbaijan laundromat” scheme – under which vast sums have been chanelled out of the former Soviet state to support the lifestyle of the country’s ruling elite – and that they in turn had already received funds from other “laundromat” companies.