Banker's wife who spent £16m in Harrods escapes extradition to Azerbaijan on embezzlement charges

A banker's wife who spent £16million during a series of shopping sprees in Harrods has escaped extradition back to Azerbaijan on fraud charges.

Zamira Hajiyeva, 55,  is accused of embezzling millions of pounds from the state-owned bank that her husband ran for 14 years.

But she won her extradition battle on Thursday after a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court ruled she would not get a fair trial in her native country.

Mrs Hajiyeva became the subject of the UK's first Unexplained Wealth Order last year amid accusations that she had used stolen money to fund her lavish lifestyle.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) began investigating her finances following the conviction of her husband on corruption charges, using so-called "McMafia" anti-corruption laws that came into force last year.

The couple purchased an £11.5million house in Knightsbridge and a £10.5 million golf club in Ascot, Berkshire.

Court papers revealed Mrs Hajiyeva spent £16 million during a decade-long spending spree in Harrods from 2006, including £1million in the toy department and £5.75million at the jewellery designers Boucheron and Cartier.

She spent £30,000 in one day at the Knightsbridge store’s Belgian chocolate outlet Godiva and thousands on La Perla and Agent Provocateur lingerie.

Mrs Hajiyeva’s husband, Jahangir Hajiyev, 57, was the chairman of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) bank from 2001 until his resignation in 2015 and he was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud and embezzlement.

The court heard he earned a salary of around £55,000 a year when he was running the bank and there was no evidence of any legitimate source for the wealth his wife had subsequently enjoyed.

Her lawyers claimed she was being persecuted for her political beliefs and would not get a fair trial if deported to the former Soviet republic.

They argued that while her spending might have been offensive, "spending money is not a crime".

Helen Malcolm QC, representing the Azerbaijani government, said Mrs Hajiyeva had been a part of an organised crime group which had used 28 IBA credit cards to embezzle £76million.

In her written judgment, Chief Magistrate Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot said she agreed that there was evidence of Mrs Hajiyeva's "part in the alleged conspiracy".

She added: "There is evidence from which dishonesty could be inferred. I find there is sufficient evidence of conspiracy to defraud."

Judge Arbuthnot also found that there was very little evidence provided by the defence that the case against Mrs Hajiyeva in Azerbaijan was "politically motivated".

She added: "I have concluded that the request is in fact not made for the purpose of prosecuting Mrs Hajiyeva on account of her political opinions.

"It is being made because her husband defrauded the bank of a large amount of money over a lengthy period of time in a dishonest conspiracy involving many others."

But the judge said that there was a "real risk" that Mrs Hajiyeva's trial would suffer a "flagrant denial of justice".

Ben Keith, representing the Azerbaijani government said: "We will likely appeal this case."

The High Court granted the Unexplained Wealth Order but Mrs Hajiyeva was granted leave to appeal.

Meanwhile, her assets have been frozen. If she loses the appeal, she will be required to explain the source of her wealth and faces the prospect of having her assets seized.