Government officials receive suspended sentences for embezzling hundreds of millions of manats

In late December, the Nakhchivan Court for Serious Crimes concluded the trial of former Minister of Finance of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR), Rafael Aliyev, and former head of the Nakhchivan Customs Committee’s department, Mansur Askerov. Both were accused of embezzling state budget funds in collusion with others. In his testimony, Askerov revealed that illegal fees were being collected for cargo and from passengers. Sahat Habibbeyli, appointed head of Nakhchivan Customs in 2020, had instructed Askerov to include only a portion of the collected funds in the Transport and International Relations (TIR) program.

As the head of the tariff and payments department, Askerov received unofficial payments in the form of a "package" amounting to 3,000 manats. According to Askerov, he personally handed over the money to the chairman of the committee in his office. The investigation charged Askerov with embezzling 273 million manats.

Defendant Rafael Aliyev testified that before his appointment as Minister of Finance in 2020, he had held the same position as Askerov and had also passed the illegally collected fees to the people close to the head of the Nakhchivan Customs Committee.

After becoming Minister of Finance, Aliyev transferred budget funds to various government structures for purchases inflated by 10%. These funds were then cashed out and embezzled.

Aliyev admitted that his official salary as Minister was 2,300 manats, while the "package" amounted to 15,000 manats.

Aliyev also testified that he personally handed over 3 million manats to the son of the former head of NAR, Vassif Talibov, Seymur Talibov.

During the investigation and trial, Askerov reimbursed the state budget 21 million manats, while Aliyev reimbursed 31 million manats.

Both were found guilty under Article 179.4 (embezzlement in especially large amounts), which carries a punishment of 10 to 14 years in prison. The court sentenced each of them to 12 years in prison but immediately replaced the real sentence with a suspended one. Both were free at the time of sentencing.

It is worth noting that in November-December 2022, a number of high-ranking officials in Nakhchivan were arrested on charges of large-scale embezzlement and abuse of office.

In addition to Aliyev and Askerov, former head of the State Customs Committee Sahat Habibbeyli, former head of the Architecture Committee Hijran Rustamov, and others were also arrested. In March 2023, the arrested individuals were placed under house arrest, with Habibbeyli initially being under house arrest. Aliyev was accused of embezzling 145 million manats, Rustamov of 212 million manats, and Habibbeyli and Askerov of 132 million manats.

Notably, opposition representatives and media members arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of smuggling much smaller amounts - despite the lack of evidence - have been detained in pretrial detention for many months.