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Friday, April 12, 2024

UK investigates the £16m spending spree of Zamira Hajiveya, wife of a jailed banker

News Desk |

The court documents reveal astonishing details of the shopping spree worth £16 million ($20 million) by an Azerbaijani woman, Zamira Hajiveya, who is the wife of a jailed banker. She spent millions at a luxury department store Harrods in the UK in a day. The details have been publicised as part of the UK’s first investigation into an unexplained wealth.

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Zamira Hajiveya spent £600,000 ($760,000) in a single day and spent millions on the designer fashion brands, jewellery, and perfumes. She also spent £30,000 ($38,000) on chocolate in a single purchase and racked up bills of £1 million ($1.3 million) in the store’s toy department.

Read more: US charges daughter of ex-Uzbek leader in near-$1 bn scheme

The court documents showed that the purchases were made with 54 credit cards, many of which were linked to her husband’s bank. Zamira Hajiveya is the first target of UK’s Unexplained Wealth Orders law, following the introduction of so-called “McMafia” anti-corruption law last year.

She is being investigated and asked to share the details of the spent funds and how she and her husband could afford such expensive properties. The couple risks losing a home estimated at 15 million pounds near Harrods on top of that, a Berkshire golf course worth millions if she fails to explain the source of her wealth to the High Court.

Her husband is serving a 15-year jail term in Azerbaijan for stealing millions from the state-controlled bank. The list of her decade-long expense also includes lavish spending of £1.75 million ($2.2 million) at Cartier, luxury jewellery and watch-maker.

Read more: Daughter of Dubai’s ruler missing since escape attempt

She also spent £250,000 ($317,000) in Harrod’s perfumery and more than £100,000 ($127,000), each, at other luxury brands including Dennis Basso, Celine, Fendi, and Christian Dior. The record shows each spree happening in a single payment. £30,000 ($38,000) was spent on Belgian Chocolate makers Godiva and £30,000 ($38,000) were spent on wines and spirits in another purchase.

A £1.1 million ($1.4 million) a Cartier diamond ring was seized by the UK’s National Crime Agency as part of the investigation. The NCA has recently released the list of other seized items that includes 49 items of jewellery worth more than £400,000 ($507,000), which were bought from an auction house in London. She also visited her safety box at Harrods multiple times.