- Banker’s wife Zamira Hajiyeva spent £16m shopping at Harrods over a decade
- Her husband Jahangir was chair of the International Bank of Azerbaijan’s board
- He is serving 16 years in Baku for fraud, abuse of office and embezzlement
The wife of a jailed ‘McMafia’ banker has agreed to give up a golf club in Ascot and a £14million Knightsbridge mansion following an investigation into fraud and embezzlement.
Zamira Hajiyeva spent £16million shopping at Harrods in a decade, and the Supreme Court upheld two unexplained wealth orders against her.
Known as ‘McMafia orders’ – after the BBC gangland drama – the seizures were requested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2018, and they became the first ever granted in the UK.
Mrs Hajiyeva’s husband Jahangir was chairman of the board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA).
He is serving a 16-year jail term in Baku after being convicted of offences including fraud, abuse of office and embezzlement.
Zamira Hajiyeva, wife of jailed ‘McMafia’ banker Jahangir Hajiyeva, has agreed to give up a golf club in Ascot and a £14million Knightsbridge mansion following an investigation into fraud and embezzlement
Zamira Hajiyeva spent £16million shopping at Harrods in a decade, and the Supreme Court upheld two unexplained wealth orders against her
The home of Jahangir and Zamira Hajiyeva in Knightsbridge, bought in 2009 for £11.5million
NCA investigators tracked funds from the IBA being transferred through accounts in jurisdictions including the British Virgin Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Panama, Cyprus and Luxembourg.
The money was then channelled into luxury assets for the Hajiyev family.
A British Virgin Islands company solely owned by an associate of Jahangir was used to buy the five-bedroom mansion before the property was transferred into an offshore trust, also set up in the BVI.
In her attempt to thwart the order, the High Court heard Mrs Hajiyeva splashed out more than £16m on shopping sprees at Harrods between 2006 and 2016 – including £600,000 in one day.
Court documents revealed that she spent £4million at jewellers Boucheron, as well as £1m in the toys department and £30,000 on chocolates from the Belgian brand Godiva.
Her biggest identifiable single bill was £433,389 for Cartier jewellery.
She also made frequent trips to the store’s Caviar House champagne bar and spent nearly £2,000 in a Chinese restaurant.
Among the more unusual payments was £99,574 at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which offered the chance for children to be transformed into a Disney hero.
Mrs Hajiyeva has a grown-up daughter from a previous marriage and two sons with Jahangir, who are also both understood to be adults.
A trustee will auction off the 170-acre Mill Ride Golf Club in Berkshire and the mansion in central London, which are thought to have a combined value of £26.5m.
The Government will receive 70 per cent of the proceeds from their sale, minus the NCA’s costs.
The courts found that the properties were bought as a result of criminal activity but made no finding over Mrs Hajiyeva’s knowledge of how they were paid for.
The Mill Ride golf club near Ascot in Surrey was bought for £10.5m
Known as ‘McMafia orders’ –after the BBC gangland drama – the seizures were requestd by the National Crime Agency
Mrs Hajiyeva’s husband Jahangir was chairman of the board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) and is serving a 16-year jail term in Baku after being convicted of offences including fraud, abuse of office and embezzlement
NCA commander Tim Quarrelle said: ‘This result comes almost six-and-a-half years after we served Mrs Hajiyeva with the first unexplained wealth order 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.’
The agency’s deputy director Simon Armstrong said: ‘This fantastic result demonstrates how the NCA will deploy all the powers available to identify, pursue and recover the proceeds of crime.’
