A new investigation published by the OCCRP, Mikroskop Media (Azerbaijan), iFact (Georgia) and featuring analysis by Transparency International UK has found £75.6 million worth of UK property listed as owned by the family of Azerbaijani security chief, Beylar Eyyubov, with unexplained wealth.

Beylar Eyyubov has been head of security for the President of Azerbaijan for three decades, serving both Ilham Aliyev and his father Heyday Aliyev. Despite Beylar being a long-term public servant with no identifiable sources of substantial family wealth, corporate and land registry documents indicate that the Eyyuboys have accumulated an expensive property portfolio in the UK, including three mansions in Hampstead on the same street, which are just around the corner from a house OCCRP reported in 2015 as being owned by the family of President Aliyev.

This information came to light thanks to new disclosures made on the Register of Overseas Entities, which became law in 2022 after a long campaign by Transparency International UK, other NGOs and parliamentarians.

Given the vast difference between the cost of these properties and the family’s known sources of income, there are serious questions about the source of funds used to pay for these assets.

The Eyyubov family has not commented on these allegations.

Transparency International UK analysis of corporate and land documents helped OCCRP and its partners identify the following UK properties held in the names of companies listed to be beneficially owned or controlled by the Eyyubovs:

• Beaulieu, Courtenay Avenue, London (N6 4LP) bought for £31 million in January 2015 by Vipogo International LLC registered in St Kitts and Nevis
• Somerlese, Courtenay Avenue, London (N6 4LP) bought for £17 million in January 2015 by Vipogo International Ltd registered in Saint Lucia
• Brankesome, Courtenay Avenue, London (N6 4LP) bought for £15 million in January 2018 by Capella Assets Limited registered in Saint Lucia
• Flat 118, Visage Apartments, Winchester Road, London (NW3 3NE) bought for £3.2 million in September 2011 by Karoli Investments Limited registered in Saint Lucia
• 123 Visage Apartments, Winchester Road, London (NW3 3NE) (Leasehold) bought for £2.95 million in March 2009 via Rossini Investments Limited registered in Saint Lucia
• Penthouse E, Visage Apartments, Winchester Road, London (NW3 3NE) (Leasehold) bought for £2.1 million in July 2007 by Capella Assets Limited registered in the British Virgin Islands
• 28 Western Avenue, Poole (BH13 7AN) bought for £4 million in April 2010 by Romneya Corporation registered in Saint Lucia
• 51 Old Watling Street, Canterbury (CT1 2DX)  bought for £360,000 in February 2008 by Branch Business International Limited registered in Saint Lucia

In response to this investigation, Steve Goodrich Head of Research and Investigations, Transparency International UK said:

"Azerbaijan is an increasingly repressive state with a widely-recognised corruption problem. This is one of a series of investigations by journalists exposing vast amounts of UK assets held by the Azerbaijani elite, which have been bought with wealth of questionable provenance. Given the vast discrepancy between the Eyyubov’s known sources of income and the apparent value of their property portfolio, there are strong grounds for law enforcement to investigate whether these houses were acquired with the proceeds of crime."

Read the full investigation on the OCCRP website.