�Do not force me to cross the� red line �- Jahangir Hajiyev

Baku/08.02.19/Turan: On February 7, the former head of the board of this structure, Jahangir Hajiyev, gave testimonies at a trial on the case of appropriation of funds from the International Bank of Azerbaijan. The trial takes place in the Baku Serious Crimes Court; 22 people are accused, including Hajiyev himself, his brother-in-law Ismail Idayatzade and former deputy Dunyamin Khalilov. The remaining 19 people are not under arrest.

Giving testimony, Hajiyev accused the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of extortion. "Back in 2005, they demanded 20 million euros from me. The same people fabricated this criminal case against me already in 2015," Radio Azadlig quotes Hajiyev.

Hajiyev complained of violations of his rights in custody, a ban on talking with his relatives by phone, restriction of meetings with lawyers. He dismissed the charges of appropriation of 4.7 billion manat.

"Do you know what does this amount mean? This is half the state budget, it is impossible to assign such an amount. This is the size of the currency reserves of the Central Bank. The assets of the Moscow branch of the "Interbank of Azerbaijan" were 2 billion manat, how could it be assigned 4.7 billion there?

The state prosecutor says that the case consists of 365 volumes, although there are 361 volumes in it. None of the volumes contain a document or testimony that the funds were allocated to me or transferred to the accounts of my relatives for the purchase of personal property," continued Hajiyev.

He also said that he was not a government official, and had a personal business and property acquired by his family from the income from his personal business.

Hajiyev recalled that in 2010-2013 several criminal cases were initiated against the IBA that were investigated by the Ministry of Taxes. However, all cases were closed by the prosecutor's office.

Responding to allegations of issuing loans without establishing the sustainability of projects, Hajiyev said the money was allocated for the state program to create 600 thousand jobs.

"Dunyamin Khalilov submitted documents refuting the charges, but the investigation did not accept them. Why? There are a number of companies that started their activities at the expense of IBA loans, but now their names have changed. So, "Interglass" became "Azersteklo". Changing the name does not mean that it is a new venture. Nowhere in the world is there such that assets are taken (from the bank), and liabilities are left," continued Hajiyev.

Responding to the prosecutor"s questions about the allocation of loans to Dunyamin Khalilov"s companies, Hajiyev said: "There are certain" red lines "that I don"t want to cross. You understand what I am talking about, and you do not force me to do it. Do you want me to say that I was instructed to do this? Want to say? But I will not stoop to such a level," said the ex-banker, clearly hinting at the country's leadership.

According to him, during his reign, the assets of the IBA amounted to $ 7 billion. Except for loans issued to state institutions and companies, only $ 2 billion remained.

"Let's say Jahangir Hajiyev was a bad manager, he plundered; but more than 2 billion is impossible to plunder. They say that 2 billion were lost from the bank, then why after me was 12 billion dollars were allocated for the recovery of the bank? Where are these funds?

SOCAR was allocated 1.5 billion, then they were written off. Where are the remaining 8 billion? The real crime is this. The disappearance of these billions happened after us," said Hajiyev.

"The invasion of law enforcement agencies in the banking sector has become a bad precedent. As a result? 11 banks have closed, the Deposit Insurance Fund is paralyzed. The time will come and real criminals will sit on this dock," said Hajiyev. The trial will continue on February 11.

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

At the end of December, the Prosecutor General"s Office reported that Hajiyev was being charged in a new case under articles of misappropriation of large sums of money, legalization of funds obtained by criminal means, tax evasion, etc.

He is charged with the conclusion of purchase / sale transactions that do not have the real value of bills for a total amount of 3.4 billion dollars and 987 million euros.

In addition, on the instructions of Hajiyev, according to the investigation, numerous loan agreements were concluded in order to legalize cash in manat and foreign currency in the total amount of 900 million manat. These funds were transferred from bank accounts to other accounts for the purpose of assignment.

The investigation accuses Hajiyev of misappropriation of 4.7 billion manat together with the former deputy Dunyamin Khalilov and another 20 people.

In addition, according to the investigation, Hajiyev, together with Khalilov, being the actual heads of Aztorq LLC from 2011 to 2014, did not pay taxes to the state budget for a total of 1,752,000 manat. -06D--