Court Added 1.5 years to Prison Sentence of Jahangir Hajiyev

Baku / 09/05/19 / Turan: The Baku Court of Grave Crimes at the trial on Thosday in the case of the ex-head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) Jahangir Hajiyev, ex-deputy Dunyamin Khalilov and 19 more accused announced the verdict.

The court appointed Hajiyev, taking into account the previous 15-year prison sentence, a total term of 16.5 years in prison. The court dismissed Hajiyev's charges under Art. 309.2 (abuse of authority) and 313 (official forgery) upon expiration of the limitation period and kept the charges under Art. 179.3.2 (misappropriation and embezzlement) and 213 (tax evasion).

The ex-deputy Khalilov was also added 1.5 years to the previous term and a total of 14.5 years of imprisonment was appointed.

Hajiyev"s brother-in-law, Ismail Hidayatzadeh, was sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment, taking into account the previous sentence.

The remaining defendants in the case were sentenced to probation.

Hajiyev and Khalilov denied the allegations and stated that the loans were directed to government projects.

* Hajiyev was arrested on December 5, 2015, and the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced him to 15 years in prison. He and seven others were found guilty of abuse, fraud, causing major damage, misappropriation and embezzlement, abuse of power, and bribe giving.

At the end of December 2018, the Prosecutor General"s Office announced that Hajiyev had been charged with a new case under articles on misappropriation of a large amount of money, legalization of proceeds from crime, tax evasion, etc.

He is charged with concluding transactions on the purchase / sale of bills not having real value for a total of 3.4 billion dollars and 987 million euros. Hajiyev and Khalilov rejected the charge. -16C06-