OCCRP<\/a>), the decision was issued by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) of the UK. Additionally, Fordays has been banned from holding managerial or compliance-related roles at law firms for five years and must also pay \u00a350,000 (about $64,000) in legal costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe tribunal described Fordays\u2019 checks as \u201crudimentary, piecemeal and naive\u201d The court noted that between 2013 and April 2015, large sums of money were transferred twice by family members of Anar Mahmudov, the son of Eldar Mahmudov, into an account held by the law firm \u201cTaylor Fordyce,\u201d where Fordays served as a director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of these payments \u2014 more than \u00a31.9 million \u2014 was used by a company called \u201cContinental Properties Limited\u201d to purchase a commercial property in southern England. Although the specific address was not disclosed, OCCRP reported that in May 2015, Continental Properties bought a property in Newbury housing shops such as Pizza Hut, Greggs, and the Salvation Army for \u00a31.85 million (approximately $2.9 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the SDT, Fordays informed regulators that Continental Properties ultimately belonged to a trust named Continental Trust, which had been established by Anar Mahmudov as the settlor. He also stated that Mahmudov was neither a director, shareholder, nor a beneficial owner of Continental Properties Ltd, and that both Mahmudov and his wife had been removed from the list of trust beneficiaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SDT concluded that Fordays relied too heavily on conflicting information provided by Mahmudov\u2019s representatives and prioritized the property transaction without requesting proper documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Helen Taylor, deputy director of the international anti-corruption organization Spotlight on Corruption, said this case raises fresh questions about the flow of Azerbaijani-origin money into the UK real estate market. She emphasized that small law firms\u2019 reluctance to ask tough questions of large or wealthy clients creates a fertile ground for corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a previous OCCRP investigation, it was revealed that the Mahmudov family had built a business and real estate empire in Europe worth at least \u20ac100 million. The property in question was not included in that list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lawyer for the Mahmudov family had earlier told OCCRP that the family\u2019s wealth dates back to the 19th century and all assets have been legally registered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the United Kingdom, lawyer Rory Fordays has been fined … <\/p>\n
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":333955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[80,37,38],"tags":[125],"class_list":["post-333954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-news","category-politics","tag-azerbaijan","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Lawyer fined over ties to former Azerbaijani Minister - MEYDAN.TV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the United Kingdom, lawyer Rory Fordays has been fined \u00a332,500 (approximately $42,000) for negligence in conducting checks on funds linked to the family of former Azerbaijani Minister of National Security, Eldar Mahmudov.\" \/>\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-lawyer-fined-over-ties-to-former-azerbaijani-minister\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Lawyer fined over ties to former Azerbaijani Minister - 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