Dirty money spotlights role of family offices as enablers


LONDON: The signs were there. Jahangir Hajiyev, chairman of the biggest bank in Azerbaijan, and his wife, Zamira (pic), appeared to be living on dirty money.

Between 2003 and 2015, the couple spent a fortune in the UK. They dished out £11.5mil (US$14.3mil) for a townhouse in the ritzy London neighbourhood of Knightsbridge and another £10.5mil on a golf course and club near Ascot, the famed horse racing locale. They bought a new Gulfstream jet for US$42.5mil. Meanwhile, Zamira, wielding 35 credit cards, went wild in Harrods. In one week alone, she dropped about £725, 000 in the department store on jewellry, designer clothes and other merchandise.

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