A Berkshire golf club relinquished by the wife of an incarcerated banker has been sold, while a townhouse in Knightsbridge formerly owned by her has seen its asking price decrease by £1.25 million.
Zamira Hajiyeva agreed to relinquish Mill Ride Golf Club in Ascot along with her residence, which has had its listing price reduced from £14.75 million to £13.5 million, as a result of a prolonged six-year fraud investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Savills, which has been overseeing the sales process, confirmed the club’s sale, yet did not disclose the identity of the buyer.
Mrs. Hajiyeva, who has a history of spending £16 million at Harrods over a decade, is expected to receive 30% of the proceeds from the sales, with the government entitled to the remaining 70%.
Her husband, Jahangir Hajiyev, served as the chairman of the state-run International Bank of Azerbaijan from 2001 until 2015 and was subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison for fraud and embezzlement.
Last year, the NCA stated that both the golf club and townhouse were acquired as a “direct result of substantial fraud, embezzlement, false accounting, and money laundering.”
They indicated that they had discovered “no reasonable justification” for the origins of the finances used to purchase these properties.
The golf club was established in the 1990s and the club’s website indicates it is not currently accepting new members, having implemented a waiting list.
The Walton Street residence is located just a five-minute walk from Harrods, where Mrs. Hajiyeva is known for her extravagant spending, which included £4.9 million on jewelry.
A law firm representing Mrs. Hajiyeva stated last year that she and her family were “pleased to be able to move forward with their lives” and that she chose to resolve the proceedings as defending against them had become unfeasible.
Gherson LLP remarked: “During the UK legal proceedings, Mrs. Hajiyeva’s husband, who remains incarcerated in Azerbaijan, possessed information that could have been pivotal to the case.
“However, throughout the UK proceedings, Azerbaijani authorities systematically obstructed Mrs. Hajiyeva and her legal representatives in the UK from accessing Mr. Hajiyev while he was imprisoned in Azerbaijan.”
