NCA SEIZES MILLIONS DERIVED FROM THE AZERBAIJAN LAUNDROMAT
Released On 9th Feb 2022
An investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) has led to the seizure of just over £5.6 million in UK bank accounts belonging to family members of Dr Javanshir Feyziyev.
Dr Feyziyev is a serving member of the Azerbaijan parliament, Chair of the UK-Azerbaijan All Parliamentary Co-operation Committee, and Co-chair of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Co-operation Committee.
According to the NCA, he, his wife, one of his children and his nephew brought millions of pounds of illicit wealth into the UK via the Azerbaijani Laundromat. In their defence, the accused insisted that their wealth was derived from the legitimate business activities of Dr Feyziyev.
Those making use of the Laundromat, which operated between 2012 and 2014, would move money into the UK via a complex network of shell companies that operated bank accounts in Estonia and Latvia, a process known as layering.
Some of these transfers were accompanied by documents, including invoices and contracts, purporting to support legitimate and very substantial business transactions.
However, having examined the evidence put forward by the NCA in a three-week, contested forfeiture hearing in London, the judge said there was “overwhelming evidence” that the documents submitted to the court were “entirely fictitious and were produced in order to mask the underlying money-laundering activities of those orchestrating the accounts”.
He, therefore, ordered the surrender of just over £5.6 million out of £15.3 million held in the Feyziyev family’s frozen bank accounts.
Most of the money will be forfeited by Mrs Feyziyeva, who will have to hand over £4.4 million to the NCA, whereas Dr Feyziyev will forfeit only £240,000.
Helen Gregory, Forensic Director at Milsted Langdon, said: “There have now been a number of cases brought to court by the NCA and other agencies as a result of the ‘Azerbaijani Laundromat’.
“In each case, forensic accountants and investigators will have tracked the cash brought into the UK via the extraordinarily complex routes used by this money laundering scheme to create a clearer picture for prosecutors and judges. This is a highly skilled process that is often used by the defence as much as the prosecution to assist the court in identifying the source of such funds.”
