Case of frozen real estate of Azerbaijani MP being considered in London
Real estate in London of MP Feyziyev
The UK Supreme Court is considering the case of frozen real estate in London worth $50 million belonging to Azerbaijani MP Javanshir Feyziyev and his wife. The real estate was frozen on suspicion that it was bought with money obtained illegally. The deputy himself insists that he purchased these estates with honestly earned money in Azerbaijan before 2010, when he was elected as a deputy.
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On February 22, the UK Supreme Court began hearing the case of 22 properties of Azerbaijani MP Javanshir Feyziyev and his wife, which were frozen due to suspicions that they were bought in London with illegally obtained money.
The properties, bought for a total of 39.5 million pounds ($50 million), were frozen by a Supreme Court ruling dated June 23, 2023.
According to the Center for corruption and organized crime research (OCCRP), Feyziev did not respond to requests for comment, but on February 22, the family’s lawyer filed a petition with the Supreme Court to overturn the decision.
The court considered freezing the property based on a request from Britain’s National Crime Agency.
The Feyziyevs’ lawyer argues that the agency did not follow all the necessary procedures and there are no sufficient grounds to challenge the acquisition of any of these properties.
Steve Goodrich, head of research and investigations at Transparency International’s UK branch, told Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service about the process:
“Our investigation has uncovered properties in the UK worth more than 6.7 million pounds bought with dubious funds. UK law enforcement agencies should investigate properties that may have been purchased with proceeds of crime or corruption, and there are strong suspicions about this. Open justice is a key part of our justice system. It is therefore in the public interest to provide information about such cases.“
The Javanshir Feyziyev family had previously attracted the attention of the National Crime Agency with having millions of pounds in their bank accounts. The agency claims that these funds entered the bank accounts through an international money laundering mechanism discovered by the OCCRP in 2017 and known as the Azerbaijan money laundering machine.
In 2022, the UK confiscated 5.6 million pounds ($7.56 million) of that money. The confiscated funds were in the bank accounts of Javanshir Feyziev’s wife Parvana Feyzieva, his son Orkhan and his relative Elman Javanshir.
The National Crime Agency said that properties bought by Feyziev and his wife were frozen because there was “strong evidence” that they had been acquired with money laundering funds.
Freezing the property prevents it from being sold or transferred to another person.
The agency said the funds were transferred through an “extremely complex” mechanism.
According to the report, the most expensive property in question was bought by Feyziev for 26 million pounds ($33.4 million) in the Chelsea Barracks apartment complex in London.
Other frozen properties include an apartment in the luxury Regent’s Park neighborhood and 19 apartments in new buildings in northwest London. Feiziev reportedly spent 10 million pounds ($13.7 million) to buy these apartments between 2008 and 2018.
According to the agency, the total value of all the frozen properties is 50 million pounds.
It is reported that it is up to the judge hearing the case to decide whether the property should remain frozen.
A 2017 OCCRP study found that $2.9 billion from Azerbaijan passed through the “Azerbaijani money laundering machine.”
The OCCRP stated that $138 million was obtained through a money laundering mechanism in two companies used by Feyziev’s pharmaceutical company Avromed in Azerbaijan.
In connection with this information, Feyziev filed a “defamation” lawsuit against OCCRP, and the dispute was resolved “on terms agreed between the parties.”
Javanshir Feyziev categorically denies involvement in money laundering or other illegal activities.
