Banker’s wife forfeits £14 million Knightsbridge home and Ascot golf club following National Crime Agency investigation

It is understood from the NCA’s investigation that Mrs Hajiyeva had spent more than £16million in Harrods in a decade, between 2006 and 2016, with a single day reaching an astonishing £600,000. 

The NCA has stated that there was “no reasonable explanation” for how the two properties were purchased and the cash likely came from fraud, embezzlement or money laundering. 

The NCA noted that “the purchase of the golf club was conducted through a complex structure of Luxembourg and Guernsey-registered companies and by using offshore trusts in Guernsey and later, Cyprus". Whilst the money used to purchase the Knightsbridge property came from two IBA bank accounts, again concealed through an opaque structure of foreign bank accounts with the payments sent to the United Kingdom by an associate of Mr Hajiyev. The NCA explained that there were countless examples of funds from the Azerbaijan bank being transferred through multiple bank accounts, which is a well understood method of money laundering.

The NCA applied for a Freezing Order for the Knightsbridge house and Mill Ride Golf Club in March 2021. Thereafter, in June 2023 a Civil Recovery Order was filed at the High Court. On 1 August 2024, the court granted the Civil Recovery Order meaning 70% of the value of the two properties must be forfeited by Mrs Hajiyeva.

The court concluded that the properties were purchased as a result of criminal activity, however it made no finding in relation to Mrs Hajiyeva’s knowledge of how these were paid for. Roger Gherson and Thomas Cattee, Mrs Hajiyeva’s legal representatives made a statement confirming that: “our client took the decision to settle the proceedings because it proved impossible to defend them” citing reference to her husband’s imprisonment.

This result comes more than six years after Mrs Hajiyeva was served with the first Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) in 2018 in respect of these properties, and the longstanding investigation being conducted by the NCA. 

UWOs were first introduced in the United Kingdom in 2018, and can be sought when an individual owns a property worth more than £50,000 but does not appear to have the funds to have paid for such an asset through their lawful income. A UWO is granted upon an application to the High Court and requires the individual to explain how they lawfully acquired the stipulated assets. The purpose of this legislation is to target illicit wealth being brought into the United Kingdom.