{"id":190023,"date":"2018-05-17T14:49:25","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T14:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/uk-law-firm-accused-of-failings-over-arzu-and-leyla-aliyevas-offshore-assets\/"},"modified":"2018-05-17T14:49:25","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T14:49:25","slug":"uk-law-firm-accused-of-failings-over-arzu-and-leyla-aliyevas-offshore-assets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/uk-law-firm-accused-of-failings-over-arzu-and-leyla-aliyevas-offshore-assets\/","title":{"rendered":"UK law firm accused of failings over Arzu and Leyla Aliyeva’s offshore assets"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n
\n Originally published by
\n
\n the Guardian
\n <\/a>
\n <\/i>\n<\/p>\n

\n A firm of London solicitors that set up an offshore company for the daughters of Azerbaijan\u2019s president has been referred to a disciplinary tribunal after being accused of multiple failings. They include not detecting \u201ca significant risk of money-laundering\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva \u2013 the daughters of President Ilham Aliyev \u2013 set up a secret offshore company to help manage their multimillion-pound property portfolio in Britain. The firm, Exaltation Limited, was based in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands.\n<\/p>\n

\n Details of the offshore company emerged in April 2016 as part of a leak of records from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, known as the Panama Papers.\n<\/p>\n

\n The London law firm that set up Exaltation,
\n
\n Child & Child
\n <\/a>
\n , claimed \u2013 wrongly \u2013 that the two women had no political connections. The business interests and property portfolios of the Aliyev family have been the subject of extensive reporting, amid allegations of massive corruption.\n<\/p>\n

\n In a
\n
\n notice
\n <\/a>
\n published on Monday, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said it had referred Child & Child\u2019s senior partner, Khalid Sharif, to the solicitors
\n
\n disciplinary tribunal
\n <\/a>
\n .\n<\/p>\n

\n The allegations are subject to a hearing due later this year at which Sharif is entitled to present his own evidence. They are as yet unproven. If found guilty, he could be struck off.\n<\/p>\n

\n The SRA said that there was a case to answer by Sharif in respect of allegations that he failed to ascertain whether the two sisters were \u201creportedly linked with the proceeds of crime\u201d or were \u201cpolitically exposed persons\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n This classification automatically triggers enhanced banking and due diligence checks.\n<\/p>\n

\n The case against Sharif also includes allegations that he failed to take into consideration \u201ca higher risk of money laundering\u201d when he set up the offshore company using Mossack Fonseca\u2019s Jersey branch. It further says he did not check that the Panamanian firm was properly authorised to give instructions on behalf of the president\u2019s daughters.\n<\/p>\n

\n This is the first time the SRA has taken action against a firm implicated in the Panama Papers, a leak of 11.5m documents obtained by Germany\u2019s S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Guardian and other media.\n<\/p>\n

\n The SRA said it was still investigating Child & Child and was working closely with other agencies \u201cto tackle concerns raised by the papers\u201d. It added: \u201cAlthough in many instances, we found that the law firms and lawyers mentioned are not based in this country or regulated by us, we still have a number of ongoing investigations.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe credibility of law firms makes them an obvious target for criminals wishing to launder money. Tackling money laundering is crucial not only to maintain trust in the profession, but also for the good of society.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Sharif did not reply to an email requesting comment. According to his
\n
\n profile
\n <\/a>
\n on the firm\u2019s website, he has \u201cacted on the purchase and sale of some of London\u2019s most prestigious properties for both domestic and international clients\u201d. His skills include advising on how to set up and administer \u201coffshore entities\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n Exaltation Limited was set up in 2015. The notice also refers to an earlier gift made between November 2013 and March 2014 which Sharif allegedly failed to monitor. The transaction had \u201ca significant risk that money laundering was taking place\u201d. There were no further details.\n<\/p>\n

\n President Aliyev has ruled Azerbaijan since 2003. During this time, his daughters have reportedly amassed vast personal business empires. They own luxury apartments in the UAE, as well as interests in telecommunications and gold mining.\n<\/p>\n

\n Leyla Aliyeva\u2019s assets include a \u00a317m mansion on Hampstead Lane in north London, next door to Kenwood House and overlooking Hampstead Heath. She is an artist and socialite, with friends said to include Prince Andrew, Lord Mandelson and Elisabeth Murdoch.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Panama papers showed that she set up a new offshore firm at the time of her 2015 divorce from Emin Agalarov, an ethnic Azerbaijani businessman and pop star. The couple lived in Moscow and also reportedly owned a luxury penthouse overlooking Hyde Park. Neither daughter has commented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Child & Child set up secret company in British Virgin Islands and claimed Leyla and Arzu Aliyev had no political connections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":103689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investigations","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK law firm accused of failings over Arzu and Leyla Aliyeva's offshore assets - MEYDAN.TV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/uk-law-firm-accused-of-failings-over-arzu-and-leyla-aliyevas-offshore-assets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK law firm accused of failings over Arzu and Leyla Aliyeva's offshore assets - 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