Farnoush Farsiar is a British-Iranian private banker and the founder of Plato Capital, a Dubai-based investment fund.[209] She is a former banker at the Dubai government-controlled bank Emirates NBD, which is where she met Hamidreza Ghanbari, who also worked there.[341] Farsiar left Emirates NBD to become an “independent family advisor,”[341] and Ghanbari went on to become chief executive of Malta’s Pilatus Bank,[341] which was subsequently shuttered over systemic failures to comply with anti-money laundering regulations.[587]
Farsiar featured 5,000 times in Pilatus Bank files.[11] Investigators who trawled through the bank’s records found that she had acted as the protector of trusts set up for the benefit of a network of Azerbaijani political figures.[341] Farsiar was married to Thamer Aidi, the business partner of Australian chartered accountant Robert John Baker.[11] Along with Baker, Farsiar appeared “to play a significant role” in managing the finances of Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva.[11] The pair signed payment instructions on behalf of Sahra FZCO, a company owned by the sisters, and were authorized signatories on accounts belonging to UAE registered companies Davinci Holdings Limited, owned by Arzu Aliyeva, and Picasso Holdings Limited, owned by Leyla Aliyeva.[11] [341]
Farnoush Farsiar did not respond to The Sentry’s request for comment.
