Aliyev's cousin confirmed to be using Azerbaijani Laundromat

Aliyev's cousin confirmed to be using Azerbaijani Laundromat

PanARMENIAN.Net - Mikaela Jav (Izzat Khanim Javadova), a well-known DJ and the cousin of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, has become the first confirmed member of Azerbaijan's “first family” to be using the Azerbaijani Laundromat, a $2.9 billion money laundering system first reported on in 2017, OCCRP reports.

Javadova owns millions of dollars in luxurious properties in London and Ibiza along with her husband.

In one sultry Facebook photo, she appears in red and white lingerie, channeling a seductive Mrs. Claus. “Merry Xmas to all my friends!!!” she wrote, posing on a balcony with the lights of the south bank of the Thames behind her.

That glittering London backdrop, as well as the pattern on the balcony fencing, shows that the photo was taken from Whitehall Court, one of the city’s most exclusive residences.

She and her husband, Suleyman Javadov, have been under investigation by the U.K.’s National Crime Agency for receiving 13.9 million British pounds (nearly US$19.6 million) from opaque sources, including the Azerbaijani Laundromat, a massive underground money movement system used by the country’s elite. On July 5, the couple settled the case rather than facing trial, agreeing to forfeit about 4 million pounds ($5.5 million) of that amount held in Suleyman’s accounts.

In collaboration with Transparency International’s U.K. chapter, OCCRP can now reveal that Javadova and her husband own at least four U.K. apartments, including one at Whitehall Court. Three of them were purchased in the years they were receiving these transactions.

During that time, the couple also purchased two additional properties in Ibiza, the Spanish island where Javadova — as DJ Mikaela Jav — hosted her Saturday night parties called “Mikaela & Friends” in 2015.

The U.K. authorities are presenting the Javadovs’ forfeiture of a portion of the money they received from the Azerbaijani Laundromat as a victory for law enforcement.

The Javadovs’ properties, however, have not been investigated and do not appear to be in danger of being confiscated. Their settlement reflects the outcome of a civil case, not a criminal one, and they have not been charged with any crime.

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