The removal of the anonymity order protecting a London couple accused of bringing £14 million of “dirty money” into the capital via the Azerbaijan laundromat is an important victory for this newspaper, which has been fighting to reveal their names for nearly two years, and for transparency in the justice system.
It might turn out that Suleyman Javadov and his DJ wife Izzat Javadova can convince a forfeiture hearing starting next week that the National Crime Agency is wrong to allege that their bank accounts contain corrupt funds and that they acquired their wealth legitimately, as they insist.
But it is right nonetheless that their alleged use of “brass plate” companies fronted by “men of straw” to bring such large sums into this country, where they have bought prime London property and paid school fees, should be examined openly and not kept under a veil of secrecy that would have prevented not just their names but other key facts from being made public.
The reason is that it’s vital for the integrity of our financial system, property market and private education, that money flowing into them is clean. Media scrutiny helps to ensure that by exposing wrongdoing.
Nor can it be right, as in this case, which has involved a succession of appeals and legal challenges, that expensive lawyers and court processes can be used to thwart transparency for so long.
Even now court orders prevent the full story being told. But the fact that it’s more than a year since forfeiture proceedings began and nearly three years since the couple’s bank accounts were frozen, but only now that their identities can be revealed, shows how unsatisfactory the situation has been.
It’s critical now that this newspaper’s victory in its battle against secrecy in this case sets a precedent and that transparency prevails in future hearings too.
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