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🌐 THE GLOBAL CONTEXT 🌐
🇦🇿 Why This Matters in Azerbaijan: SOCAR, the main steward of Azerbaijan’s enormous oil wealth, has repeatedly been accused of secrecy, unexplained financial dealings, and enabling the enrichment of insiders. Previous OCCRP investigations, like this one, have revealed outright corruption.
SOCAR’s longtime president Rovnag Abdullayev, who was removed from his position last year, made a modest official salary. His son Rashad, who claimed on LinkedIn to have begun his career at a SOCAR affiliate when he was just 16, acquired the flat at the age of 25.
So where did Rashad obtain the 17.3 million pounds he used to buy this London apartment? It’s worth noting that this is not the first time Rashad has been linked to expensive assets.
🇬🇧 Why This Matters in the U.K.: London real estate has long been a top investment opportunity with few questions asked, attracting illicit money from around the world. The harms of this flood of foreign cash are often the focus of political debate in the U.K., especially when it comes to the topic of affordable housing.
What’s less debatable is that corporate secrecy laws have prevented the public from fully realizing how much of London’s real estate is owned by foreigners with wealth of dubious origins.
🌎 Why This Matters For the World: This investigation was made possible by a new U.K. law passed last year, the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act. It requires overseas entities with property in the United Kingdom to declare their “ultimate beneficial owners.” The deadline to declare was January 31.
Without this law, the owner of this luxury flat would have likely remained a secret. This is why public access to “ultimate beneficial owners” data is so critical in the fight against corruption.
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