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The wife of a jailed Azeri banker has agreed to forfeit a Knightsbridge house worth £14mn and a golf club in Ascot following an investigation by the UK National Crime Agency.
The NCA said on Monday that Zamira Hajiyeva, wife of the former chair of the board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) Jahangir Hajiyev, must turn over 70 per cent of the value of the two properties after a court granted a property freezing order.
The forfeiture draws a line under a more than six-year investigation in which the NCA used “unexplained wealth orders” (UWOs), which require individuals to explain how they lawfully acquired an asset, for the first time. Hajiyev became the first person to be subjected to the so-called “McMafia” law, named after the BBC crime drama, introduced in 2018 to target illicit wealth being brought into Britain.
The UK has battled against a reputation as a safe haven for corrupt wealth for decades, particularly in relation to property investments.
Hajiyev was convicted by a court in Azerbaijan in 2016 for offences including misappropriation and fraud. He is currently serving a 16-year jail sentence in Baku.
During its investigation the NCA found funds derived from the IBA had been transferred through multiple accounts by an associate of Hajiyev.
Large sums were funnelled across countries, including the British Virgin Islands, and used to acquire luxury assets for the family, the NCA said. The Mill Ride golf club, near Ascot, was bought for £10.5mn in 2013.
“This result comes almost six and a half years after we served Mrs Hajiyeva with the first UWO ever granted, and highlights our commitment to using all the tools at our disposal to combat the flow of illicit money into, and through, the UK,” said Tim Quarrelle, branch commander for asset denial at the NCA.
In 2018, the NCA applied for two UWOs against the properties along with interim freezing orders to ensure the assets could not be disposed of.
Hajiyeva unsuccessfully fought the orders in court, claiming they were based on an unfair trial of her husband, and forcing her to try and explain her spending, which included £16.3mn at the Harrods department store over the course of a decade.
She was also arrested in 2018 over an extradition request from the Azeri government to face allegations of fraud. Her extradition was refused in 2019.
In 2021, the agency requested a property freezing order, which was granted on August 1, 2024. While the court concluded the properties were purchased as a result of criminal activity, it made no finding in relation to Hajiyeva’s knowledge of how they were paid for.
“This is a significant win for the NCA,” said Susan Hawley, executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, a campaign group. “This is exactly the kind of action against UK property owned by individuals from highly corrupt environments . . . we would like to see rolled out on a far more ambitious scale.”
“Our client took the decision to settle the proceedings because it proved impossible to defend them,” Roger Gherson and Thomas Cattee, Hajiyeva’s lawyers, said in a statement, citing her husband’s imprisonment.
“As part of the settlement, some of the proceeds of the sale of these properties will be returned to our client,” they added.
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