(Bloomberg) -- U.K. police have six months to investigate how a jailed Azerbaijani banker was able to afford a Cartier diamond ring after a judge allowed them to seize the 1.2 million-pound ($1.5 million) piece from a London jeweler.
The National Crime Agency is pursuing a so-called Unexplained Wealth Order case into the assets of Jahangir Hajiyev and his wife. Hajiyev, the former head of International Bank of Azerbaijan, is serving a 15-year prison sentence in his home country. The diamond ring, purchased at Harrods in 2011, was seized from a jeweler who w
as repairing it.
Hajiyev’s wife, Zamira Hajiyeva, must explain how the couple afforded a pair of properties worth 22 million pounds. The agency also seized 49 other jewelry items worth about 400,000 pounds from an auction house in Nov. 2018 that were being d for her daughter. Zamira Hajiyeva was arrested last year in connection with allegations in Azerbaijan. Her house near Harrods in central London and a golf club she owned in the capital’s suburbs were seized.
Her lawyer, Thomas Garner, declined to comment Monday. In a statement last year, he emphasized that his client hasn’t been convicted of a crime and criticized the “sensationalist” coverage of the wealth order proceedings.
U.K. prosecutors are trying to crack down on politically-connected foreigners linked to corruption in their home nations who invest millions in London. Hajiyeva’s properties were the first targets of legislation that puts the onus on asset-holders to prove that their wealth is legitimate.
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