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    Unexplained wealth orders

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    • Friday, 25 March, 2022
      Russia
      Polina Kovaleva’s London flat and the task of tracing Russia’s dirty money

      Opaque finances and unclear ties make it tricky to determine who is connected to Putin’s inner circle

      Polina Kovaleva and the luxury flats, left, next to Kensington’s Design Museum
    • Wednesday, 8 April, 2020
      Kazakh family defeats NCA over ‘Billionaires Row’ unexplained wealth order 

      High Court rules that evidence concerning £80m London properties is ‘unreliable’

    • Tuesday, 11 February, 2020
      Marriage and divorce
      Burford hit by Dubai divorce ruling on £350m superyacht

      Gulf court overturns litigation funder’s pursuit of vessel at heart of Russian oligarch’s marital split

      VENICE, ITALY - JUNE 05: A man attempts to fish in front of the super yacht "Luna" owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and currently moored in Riva Sette Martiri overlooking St Mark's Basin between the Biennale Gardens and St Mark's Square as people walk around the security barriers surrounding it on June 5, 2011 in Venice, Italy. Most Venetians are against the arrival and mooring of super yachts and Venice Mayor Giorgio Orsoni has suggested imposing an eco-tax to limit the presence of these giant vessels in the basin. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images)
    • Wednesday, 5 February, 2020
      Banker’s wife Zamira Hajiyeva loses appeal over unexplained wealth orders

      Golf club owner must account for spending, including £16.3m at Harrods over a decade

      File photo dated 24/06/19 of Zamira Hajiyeva, who is set to find out whether her challenge to the UK's first unexplained wealth order (UWO) has been successful. PA Photo. Issue date: Wednesday February 5, 2020. Hajiyeva, who spent more than £16 million at Harrods in a decade, is attempting to overturn a UWO obtained by the National Crime Agency (NCA) against a property in Knightsbridge, central London, which was purchased for £11.5 million in 2009 by a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. See PA story COURTS McMafia. Photo credit should read: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire
    • Monday, 20 January, 2020
      Burford Capital Ltd
      Oligarch’s son challenges litigation funding in £453m divorce

      Temur Akhmedov says his mother’s agreement with Burford Capital is ‘unlawful’

      File photo dated 01/02/18 of Russian housewife Tatiana Akhmedova, who won £453 million in a divorce battle against her Russian billionaire ex-husband Farkhad Akhmedov. Mr Justice Haddon-Cave at London's High Court has made a number of orders to aid her enforcement of his 2016 judgment.
    • Thursday, 12 December, 2019
      Banker’s wife fights back against unexplained wealth orders

      Appeal judges told £11.5m London house deal has ‘hallmarks of money laundering’

      Zamira Hajiyeva, wife of Jahangir Hajiyev, the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan, arrives to attend her extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in London, U.K., on Monday, June 24, 2019. Hajiyeva, the target of the U.K.'s first unexplained wealth order, spent almost 16 million pounds ($20.4 million) across Europe, including at Harrods and luxury boutiques, on 10 credit cards issued illegally by her husband’s bank. Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
    • Tuesday, 3 December, 2019
      National Crime Agency
      Pakistan family hands over £190m in ‘dirty money’ probe

      Crime agency’s frozen assets order includes £50m London property

      Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz waves as he leaves the Supreme Court on his contempt of court case in Islamabad June 21, 2012. Pakistan's top court stopped short of indicting the son of its chief justice and a billionaire businessman, kicking into the long grass corruption allegations that damage its credibility. In a case that has captivated the Pakistani political and media elite, Supreme Court judges asked the attorney general to investigate Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry, Malik Riaz and his son-in-law in corruption allegations. AFP PHOTO / Aamir QURESHI (Photo credit should read AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/GettyImages)
    • Thursday, 26 September, 2019
      Extradition of Azeri banker’s wife blocked by UK court

      Zamira Hajiyeva spent £16.3m in Harrods and is the subject of UK’s first unexplained wealth order

      Unexplained Wealth Order recipient Zamira Hajiyeva arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court for her extradition hearing. PA Photo. Picture date: Thursday September 26, 2019. The wife of a "fat cat international banker" who spent £16 million in Harrods is wanted on two charges of embezzlement in Azerbaijan. See PA story COURTS McMafia. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
    • Wednesday, 31 July, 2019
      UK unexplained wealth order targets suspected paramilitary links

      Northern Irish woman ordered to explain how she financed £3.2m of property purchases

      National Crime Agency - NCA - UK
    • Monday, 24 June, 2019
      Azeri banker’s wife faces extradition over alleged credit card fraud

      Zamira Hajiyeva is subject to UK’s first unexplained wealth order

      24/06/2019. London, UK. Zamira Hajiyeva arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court in London for an extradition hearing on moves to extradite her to Azerbaijan, where she is wanted on two charges of embezzlement. Hajiyeva was the subject of the UK’s first unexplained wealth order (UWO) after spending £16m in Harrods department store. Photo credit: Vickie Flores/LNP
    • Tuesday, 28 May, 2019
      London properties worth £80m targeted in ‘dirty money’ probe

      National Crime Agency obtains second set of unexplained wealth orders

      National Crime Agency raids...EDITORS NOTE: FACES PIXELATED BY THE PA PICTUREDESK AT THE REQUEST OF THE NCA: Officers from the newly formed National Crime Agency take part in a dawn raid on a property in Wanstead Road, Bromley, Kent.
    • Tuesday, 28 May, 2019
      Wife’s lavish spending laid bare after UK unexplained wealth order

      Documents itemise Azeri banker’s wife £16.3m Harrods bill

      Zamira Hajiyeva, picture taken 2015 - email Will at e2wnews@gmail.com if you wish to use this image
    • Monday, 14 January, 2019
      National Crime Agency
      £1m Cartier ring seized amid probe into Azeri banker’s wife
    • Thursday, 22 November, 2018
      Prime property
      NCA focuses on Knightsbridge’s unexplained wealth

      London area is at the sharp end of new rules that compel housebuyers to explain their source of funds

      Illustration: Michelle Thompson
    • Thursday, 8 November, 2018
      Target of UK’s first unexplained wealth order granted bail
    • Tuesday, 6 November, 2018
      Target of UK’s first unexplained wealth order fights extradition

      Banker’s wife, who spent £16m in Harrods, is accused of conspiracy to defraud Azeri bank

      Zamira Hajiyeva, picture taken 2010 - email Will at e2wnews@gmail.com if you wish to use this image
    • Friday, 2 November, 2018
      Jewels linked to Azeri banker wife’s unexplained wealth case seized

      Investigators descend on Christie’s to detain property of Zamira Hajiyeva

    • Wednesday, 10 October, 2018
      Azerbaijan bank chair’s wife named as target of unexplained wealth order

      UK legal proceedings reveal luxury lifestyle that included private jet use

    • Wednesday, 3 October, 2018
      Bribery and corruption
      UK Crime Agency wins test case for new anti-corruption powers

      Mystery banker’s wife loses appeal to overturn unexplained wealth order

      The Royal Courts of Justice are seen in London...The Royal Courts of Justice are seen in London, Britain December 1, 2015. British legislation intended to boost the fight against corporate crime was successfully used for the first time this week when a judge approved a plea deal in which a bank agreed to pay fines in return for a bribery prosecution being suspended. Photograph taken December 1, 2015.  REUTERS/Neil Hall
    • Tuesday, 25 September, 2018
      May claims crackdown threat on ‘dirty money’ is paying off

      Unexplained wealth orders prompt wealthy Russians to change behaviour

      New National Crime Agency To Combat Organised Crime...LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 07: A general view of The National Crime Agency building in Westminster on October 7, 2013 in London, England. The NCA replaces SOCA, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, which was formed in 2006. Dubbed "the British FBI", the NCA will be tasked with tackling the most serious of crimes in the UK and replaces a number of existing bodies. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
    • Thursday, 13 September, 2018
      UK crime agency steps up assault on Russian dirty money

      NCA to extend use of unexplained wealth orders and target lawyers and accountants

    • Thursday, 26 July, 2018
      Mystery banker’s wife challenges UK unexplained wealth order

      She spent £150,000 on jewellery in Harrods in a single day, court hears

      HTH45F Interior of the famous Harrods Store, the biggest department store in Europe located at Knightsbridge in London, UK.
    • Monday, 30 April, 2018
      Are unexplained wealth orders the cure for Britain’s reputation as a haven for dirty money?

      Calls grow for the UK to shake off its reputation as a haven for suspect cash as tensions with Russia rise

      SALISBURY, ENGLAND - MARCH 07: Specialist officers in protective suits secure the police forensic tent that had been blown over by the wind and is covering the bench where Sergei Skripal was found critically with his daughter on March 4 and were taken to hospital sparking a major incident, in Salisbury on March 8, 2018 in Wiltshire, England. Sergei Skripal who was granted refuge in the UK following a 'spy swap' between the US and Russia in 2010 and his daughter remain critically ill after being exposed to an 'unknown substance'. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
    • Wednesday, 28 February, 2018
      Asian politician targeted in UK dirty money clampdown

      Crime agency secures first ‘unexplained wealth order’ on two London properties

      File photo dated 27/9/2016 of Grosvenor Crescent in central London, which has been identified as the country's most expensive street. Nearly 770,000 households across Britain are now "property millionaires", analysis has found. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Friday February 9, 2018. There are now 768,553 homes across Britain valued at at least £1 million - accounting for 2.7% of the nation's housing stock, according to website Zoopla. See PA story MONEY Million. Photo credit should read: Hannah McKay/PA Wire
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