Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva are linked to several luxury properties in Dubai, including the five-star Sofitel hotel and spa on the man-made Palm Jumeirah islands.[341] When Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva became clients of Pilatus Bank, the Sofitel hotel was described as their source of wealth, along with the Yassat Gloria Hotel Apartments, a 41-story hotel in central Dubai now known as the Mercure Barsha Heights.[11] [667] [1360]
There have been several large and suspicious fund transfers associated with the properties, according to a confidential report into money laundering at Malta’s Pilatus Bank by New York-based investigators Duff & Phelps.[341]
In 2010, the sisters secured financing from Emirates NBD, a Dubai state-controlled bank, to purchase land and develop the Sofitel hotel.[341] They did so via the UAE company Sofitel Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa FZCO, or Sofitel FZCO.[341] By 2014, the hotel was completed and open.[341]
Sofitel FZCO was jointly owned by Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva and Tale Heydarov, the son of Azerbaijan’s Emergency Situations Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov.[341] The Aliyeva sisters owned Sofitel FZCO via their UAE company Sahra FZCO, and Tale Heydarov via his UAE company Shams Al Sahra FZCO.[667] [341] [5] [8] The use of corporate vehicles to conceal ownership by politically exposed persons (PEPs) from autocratic and corruption-prone regimes is a red flag indicating potentially suspicious activity, according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).[1294] *
Duff & Phelps traced several transactions relating to the Sofitel. Between March 2015 and February 2017, Sofitel FZCO sent a total of 163 million AED ($44.5 million) from its account at Emirates NBD to accounts at Pilatus Bank belonging to two UAE companies: Davinci Holdings Limited and Picasso Holdings Limited.[341] [432] [433] According to the bank’s know your customer (KYC) files, Picasso Holdings was owned by Leyla Aliyeva, while Davinci Holdings was owned by her sister, Arzu Aliyeva.[341] The transfers from Emirates NBD were recorded as “OWNER PROFIT SHARE” and “OWNERS DISTRIBUTION” in transaction records.[341]
Duff & Phelps found multiple anti-money laundering failures by Pilatus Bank in relation to these transactions. These include failing “to take steps to establish and verify how the [Aliyeva sisters] acquired sufficient wealth to acquire and develop a hotel” and failing “to establish that the [Aliyeva sisters] were also the owners of Sahra when their entities Davinci and Picasso were onboarded and, therefore, beneficially entitled to receive dividend distributions from Sofitel FZCO.”[341]
Emirates NBD told The Sentry: “The bank is unable to provide any comment to confirm or deny any client relationships due to our internal policies and our regulatory obligations.”[1400]
* The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system and sets standards for money laundering controls.
