The wife of a jailed Azerbaijani banker has handed over a Knightsbridge mansion and an Ascot golf club to the British state as part of a settlement worth an estimated £18.5 million to taxpayers. Zamira Hajiyeva, whose husband Jahangir Hajiyev was convicted of large-scale fraud, agreed to forfeit the properties after a lengthy legal battle.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the luxury assets were obtained as a 'direct result' of fraud and money laundering linked to the looting of a state-owned bank in Azerbaijan. The properties, including a five-bedroom home on Walton Street near Harrods and the 170-acre Mill Ride Golf Club, were the first to be targeted under 'unexplained wealth orders' (UWOs) introduced in 2017.
A trustee will auction the assets, previously valued at £26.5 million in court hearings. The government will receive 70% of the proceeds after NCA costs, with the remainder returned to Hajiyeva under the settlement. The actual amount recovered will depend on sale prices.
Hajiyeva, whose £1.6 million-a-year shopping sprees at Harrods were revealed in court, denied wrongdoing. Her lawyers have claimed the case against her husband was politically motivated. Hajiyev is serving a 16-year sentence in Baku for abuse of office, fraud and embezzlement.
The NCA traced funds through offshore jurisdictions including Guernsey and the British Virgin Islands, used to buy assets for the family. Tim Quarrelle, NCA branch commander, said officers 'tracked the complex movement of these funds across the international banking system' to ascertain their source.
