Wife of former Azerbaijani banker arrested in London

Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of a disgraced Azerbaijani banker, has been arrested in London and faces two charges of embezzlement.

This is the first time that Britain has applied its new Unexplained Wealth Order. According to the BBC, the arrest was made last week at the request of the Azerbaijani government for her extradition.

Who is Zamira Hajiyev?

Zamira Hajiyev is the wife of Jahangir Hajiyev, the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan. He himself is serving a prison sentence on charges of embezzling more than 211 million manat ($130 million). His wife has since been hiding from the investigation in London, but attracted the attention of the British National Crime Agency with her too luxurious lifestyle.

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What now?

Zamira Hajiyeva must explain the source of the several millions of pounds that she spent over the years in London using her husband’s credit cards.

After the arrest, the judge ruled that Hajiyeva could be released on a bail of 500,000 pounds sterling. However, state prosecutors strongly opposed the decision. As a result, Hajiyeva was remanded into custody. She has filed an appeal, which will be considered on 9 November by the Supreme Court of Great Britain.

Public reaction

Many social media users in Azerbaijan were pleased with this news:

“The best news of the week.”

“Let these local thieves see that the same fate awaits them.”

“It’s better to extradite the money, but they might keep it for themselves…”

Although there were also those who stood up for the Hajiyev couple:

“How easy it is to manipulate the opinion of society – everyone is happy that she was arrested and extradited to her homeland, but it was the only couple who did not pay out. As a result, the husband is sitting in jail, and the local media and English justice have taken on his wife. The rest of the overthrown thieves live in peace and don’t make a scene.”