The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) is seeking the forfeiture of £15 million ($20.5 million) in assets held by the relatives of prominent Azerbaijani MP Javanshir Feyziyev.
The NCA reportedly believes that the money had been transferred to the UK through the so-called Azerbaijani Laundromat, a multi-billion ‘complex money-laundering scheme’ uncovered by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and partner outlets, including Le Monde and The Guardian, in 2017.
Neither Feyziyev nor any of his relatives have been charged with a crime.
At a hearing in London on 1 November, a lawyer for the NCA alleged that Feyziyev used shell companies and likely falsified import orders to hide illicit transfers of money, the Evening Standard reported.
The money held in the bank accounts of Feyziyev’s wife, son, and nephew, the NCA lawyer alleged, were probably the result of ‘corruption, theft, fraud and money laundering’.
The OCCRP reports that of the £15 million being sought by the NCA, £7.7 million ($10 million) belong to Feyziyev’s wife Parvana Feyziyeva and £6.4 million ($8.6 million) to his son Orkhan Javanshir. A portion of the sum was allegedly invested through a visa programme that enabled the Feyziyev family to live in the UK.
