Javad Marandi: Tory donor's link to massive money laundering probe

A apical businessman whose overseas companies were portion of a planetary wealth laundering probe is simply a large donor to the Conservative Party.

Javad Marandi, who has an OBE for concern and philanthropy, tin beryllium named aft losing a 19-month ineligible conflict with the BBC to stay anonymous.

Mr Marandi powerfully denies wrongdoing and isn't taxable to transgression sanction.

The judgement against him is simply a milestone for state of the property amid increasing privateness laws successful the courts.

A spokesperson for the businessman said: "Mr Marandi is profoundly disappointed astatine the court's determination to assistance reporting restrictions, knowing the reputational harm that is apt to follow."

A National Crime Agency (NCA) probe recovered immoderate of Mr Marandi's overseas interests had played a cardinal relation successful an elaborate money-laundering strategy involving 1 of Azerbaijan's richest oligarchs.

In January 2022, a justice ruled the NCA could prehend £5.6m [$7m] from the London-based household of Javanshir Feyziyev, a subordinate of Azerbaijan's parliament.

Their British slope accounts received currency that had been removed from Azerbaijan successful what the justice said had been "a important money-laundering scheme".

The household person denied that allegation - and astatine the outset of the hearing, successful October 2021, Mr Marandi was granted anonymity successful court.

Now, High Court judges person ruled that Mr Marandi tin beryllium identified due to the fact that helium had been a "person of importance" successful the NCA's case.

Mr Marandi, 55, was calved successful Iran and grew up successful London, wherever helium inactive lives.

His ties to the Conservative Party emerged done reports of his generous donations. Between 2014 and 2020, helium gave £756,300, according to Electoral Commission records.

Mr Marandi was described successful tribunal arsenic a "highly palmy planetary businessman" with a wide portfolio of concern interests successful the UK and abroad.

He owns the iconic plan brand, The Conran Shop, a involvement successful Anya Hindmarch Ltd, the luxury handbag firm, and an exclusive backstage members' nine and edifice successful Oxfordshire.

Along with his wife, helium heads the Marandi Foundation, which funds the Prince and Princess of Wales's charity.

In 2021, Mr Marandi became a peculiar advisor to homelessness foundation Centrepoint, providing guidance connected however it could grow its enactment with disadvantaged young people.

None of Mr Marandi's UK businesses oregon these organisations signifier immoderate portion of the NCA's investigation, which looked astatine earlier events.

The probe began successful 2017, aft investigative journalists revealed an tremendous money-laundering scheme, which became known arsenic the "Azerbaijani Laundromat".

The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed however $2.9bn (£2.3bn) of soiled wealth - currency stolen from Azerbaijan's radical and system - had been spirited distant by members of the country's elite. It was mostly for their ain benefit, but besides to bribe European politicians.

Paul Radu, the OCCRP's co-founder, said the Laundromat strategy was 1 of the astir important examples of post-Soviet looting.

"The Azerbaijani Laundromat brought a batch of harm connected galore levels to Azerbaijan itself, to the European Union, to the US, and different parts of the world," helium said.

"Small businesses mislaid a batch of wealth - they had deposits with a slope that was astatine the centre of the Laundromat."

Those revelations prompted the NCA to analyse the Feyziyev family's finances successful the UK - starring to its application, successful 2021, to prehend immoderate of their UK currency - and the disclosure successful tribunal of the nexus to Mr Marandi.

According to documents from the NCA's lawsuit astatine Westminster Magistrates' Court, the fishy wealth that made its mode to the Feyziyev household accounts successful London had originated successful slope accounts belonging to a institution with neither employees, nor traceable records of its activities.

Based successful Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, Baktelekom looked similar a state-owned steadfast that has an astir identical name.

District Judge John Zani recovered that "substantial funds from this transgression enterprise" were past moved into 2 slope accounts successful the Baltics belonging to Glasgow-registered ammunition companies.

Some of the currency was past moved onwards to accounts linked to Javanshir Feyziyev and Javad Marandi, according to the NCA.

A bid of firms, sharing the sanction Avromed, were "central" to the transportation of this money.

One of them had been acceptable up successful the Seychelles successful 2005, with Mr Marandi being its beneficiary.

Court papers amusement the Avromed Seychelles institution received ample sums, arsenic shown successful the graphic below.

Money flowed into the institution from different sources. In total, investigators accidental it paid out:

Ruling connected the NCA's exertion to prehend currency from the Feyziyev family, the justice concluded: "I americium satisfied that determination is overwhelming grounds that the invoices and contracts purporting to enactment morganatic (and precise substantial) concern transactions betwixt Baktelekom, Hilux and Polux were wholly fictitious."

They were produced successful bid to let "very important sums into and retired of their accounts truthful arsenic to disguise the underlying money-laundering activities of those orchestrating the accounts".

The National Crime Agency told the tribunal it would "neither corroborate nor deny" whether determination was an progressive probe into Mr Marandi's finances - but the well-known businessman has adamantly denied immoderate engagement successful wrongdoing.

His lawyers told the tribunal that betwixt 2012-2017, choky currency controls successful Azerbaijan meant helium had to usage speech houses successful Latvia and Estonia to transportation legitimately-owned dividends from Avromed and different businesses.

"The funds were lawfully earned, and lawfully transferred, and determination is nary question of wealth laundering," they said.

When the NCA's lawsuit against the Feyziyev household archetypal went to court, Mr Marandi's lawyers argued that revealing his individuality would breach his privateness and origin "profound and irremediable" harm to his estimation - not slightest due to the fact that nary instrumentality enforcement assemblage had interviewed oregon approached him regarding the case.

After the tribunal ruled the NCA could prehend millions from the Feyziyev family's British slope accounts, the BBC and London Evening Standard argued it was successful the nationalist involvement to disclose that immoderate of Mr Marandi's overseas interests had been portion of the case.

Judge Zani ruled, successful May 2022, that Mr Marandi - who was referred to arsenic MNL - could beryllium named nether principles of unfastened justice, saying helium had been a "person of value to the main proceedings".

That ruling triggered much than a twelvemonth of further challenges by Mr Marandi.

His lawyers succeeded successful getting a costly High Court reappraisal of Judge Zani's ruling. By this stage, the London Evening Standard had dropped retired of the challenge.

Last month, 2 of the country's astir experienced judges ruled the media could sanction Mr Marandi.

They concluded that unfastened justness was a cardinal rule and that anonymity should lone beryllium allowed successful exceptional circumstances.

Mr Justice Mostyn said: "My lone astonishment is that the anonymity bid was granted successful the archetypal place. For reasons of procedural unfairness arsenic good arsenic a chiseled deficiency of merit, it should ne'er person been granted."

Duncan Hames, manager of argumentation astatine the anti-corruption probe radical Transparency International UK, said the Conservative Party had questions to answer.

"This is simply a governmental bombshell," helium said. "We've learned contiguous that idiosyncratic who's fixed hundreds of thousands to a British governmental enactment has, successful the words of the judge, been a idiosyncratic of value successful proceedings earlier the tribunal astir a large money-laundering enterprise.

"That should beryllium a concern, not conscionable to radical who are disquieted astir wherever that wealth came from, but astir what it says astir however easy wealth tin scope governmental parties without [them] doing due checks connected on its origins."

The erstwhile Liberal Democrat MP added: "It's not bully capable conscionable to cheque whether idiosyncratic is connected the electoral roll. Our governmental parties request to beryllium overmuch much cautious astir who they instrumentality wealth from. "

BBC News has contacted the Conservative Party, The Royal Foundation and Centrepoint for comment.