Azerbaijani President's cousin may be facing arrest in the UK

JAMnews

Baku

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s cousin may be arrested in the UK.

According to the British newspaper Evening Standard, Izzyatkhanum Javadova, who have been living in London for over ten years, and her husband Suleiman Javadov are accused of importing millions of pounds of ‘dirty money’ into Britain.

“Mikaela Jav” or Izzyatkhanum Javadova

Izzatkhanim Javadova is the daughter of Jalal Aliyev, the late uncle of the current president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, a former deputy of the country’s parliament, who once had great authority in the country’s social and political life.

Her husband Suleyman Javadov, in turn, is the son of Gulmamed Javadov, who until recently held the post of Deputy Energy Minister of Azerbaijan.

About 10 years ago, Izzatkhanim Javadova founded Love the Underground Records in London and organized musical events in the UK capital, as well as on the Spanish resort – the island of Ibiza. She is known in Europe as a DJ Mikaella Jav. Mikaela is the 22-year-old daughter of the Javadov couple, and Izzatkhanim uses her name as her pseudonym.

What are the Javadovs accused of?

The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) accuses Izzyatkhanum Javadova and her spouse Suleiman Javadov of “financing their life in London with corruption-derived funds, illegally importing £14 million [approximately $19.2 million] into the country”.

The investigation into this case has been going on for several years and until now the British press referred to them as “a married couple from Azerbaijan”, without giving out their names. The married couple denies all charges and has managed to achieve the nondisclosure of their names in court.

The Evening Standard newspaper had been in litigation for almost two years for the right to name the accused. In the end, the court allowed it to disclose the names of the husband and wife from Azerbaijan.

The NCA claims that it smuggled millions of pounds into British banks “in a dirty way” and covered up illegal sources of income with fake receipts.

The newspaper, referring to the materials of the judicial investigation, writes that the Javadovs own several mansions in London, as well as a real estate in Ibiza: “It became known that there is a villa with a sea view in Ibiza and an expensive apartment in another part of the island, and also a wide portfolio of real estate in Azerbaijan”.

The NCA said in court that in their opinion, “the true source is corrupt and any legitimate income does not match the huge amount exported to London”.

The document also notes that the amount transferred under the guise of “rent payments” (13.8 million pounds [approximately $ 18.9 million] over 6 years and 8 months) is almost twice the amount of what the Javadovs mentioned during the investigation, and two times higher than the amount indicated in the rental turnover declaration to the bank Coutts, through which the transfers were made.

The court records indicate that the money transferred to the Javadovs’ accounts came from 21 ‘shady’ companies registered in the Seychelles and Marshall Islands and controlled from different places, as well as from banks in Estonia and Latvia.

A trial will begin next week, in which the NCA hopes to seize the Javadovs’ £6.5 million [$ 8.9 million] accounts in banks such as Coutts, Barclays, Lloyds, Metro Bank and Santander.

The hunt for the owners of “inexplicable wealth”

Three years earlier, the NCA became interested in the ‘dirty money’ imported to Britain by Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan Jahangir Hajiyev, who was arrested in Azerbaijan in 2015 on charges of embezzlement of funds on an especially large scale.

The woman was required to explain two properties: a house in the respectable area of London – Knightbridge worth 11.5 million pounds [$ 15.75 million] and land near the city of Ascot, acquired for 10.5 million pounds [$ 14.4 million] .

In October 2018, Zamira Hajiyeva was arrested in London and a month later she was released on bail of 500,000 pounds. But the court-imposed seizure of all her property with a “dubious source” is still in force.

The arrest of Zamira Hajiyeva was perceived by the Azerbaijani society as a logical result. Because she was the wife of the disgraced Jahangir Hajiyev, accused of stealing state funds. In addition, in Azerbaijan, back in 2016, a criminal case was initiated against Zamira Hajiyeva herself, and the court arrested her in absentia. In 2020, the Azerbaijani government appealed to the British authorities to extradite Hajiyeva, but a British court decided not to extradite her.

Now, the cousin of the President of the country is the target of UK law enforcement agencies. Society is interested in the reaction of the ruling family to this situation. But for now, representatives of the authorities keep silence on this matter.

Social media reaction

The news of the possible arrest of the president’s cousin has become the subject of heated discussions in the Azerbaijani segment of social media. Here are some typical comments:

“The daughter of Jalal Aliyev was detained in England because of the money stolen in Azerbaijan. There is no need to delve deeply into the science of genetics. Such specimens are in front of our eyes. Like father, like daughter”.

“There is nothing wrong with the fact that Ilham Aliyev’s cousin DJ Mikaela is a DJ in Europe. But she never found herself in the spotlight in this profession. She was, however, in the spotlight the other day because of her luxurious life, huge funds and possessions, the sources of which she cannot indicate. In addition, the law enforcement agencies of England launched a criminal case against her. One fine day, everyone will have to pay for what was stolen from the people”.

“In Great Britain, millions of pounds sterling wealth has been discovered in the possession of Izzyat Javadova (pseudonym DJ Mikaela Jav), the daughter of academician Jalal Aliyev, who has been repeatedly appointed as a deputy. I wonder when will such shameful news come to an end at a time when tens of thousands of families live below the poverty line? You can be sure that such people everywhere seem to be children of patriotic parents who love their fatherland. Who knows, maybe they will say that they collected this money for the purchase of weapons for the army”.