Son of Azerbaijani Oligarch Arrested in Russia with Half a Million Dollars' Worth of Gold

Ziya Babayev has been arrested at Vnukovo Airport for attempting to smuggle gold jewelry valued at half a million dollars, according to minval.az.

The arrested individual is the son of prominent businessman Mehrac Babayev, who was implicated in a scandal in 2009 when a 70-year-old German resident ended up in intensive care after a racing incident involving the sons of Telman Ismailov in Switzerland. The incident occurred after a Lamborghini collided with the victim's Volkswagen, leading to prolonged hospitalization.

The scandal had been covered up but has recently drawn the attention of law enforcement agencies once again. Ziya Babayev was returning from Istanbul, where the sons of Ismailov are currently residing.

The seized items include a Breguet watch worth $10 million,pendants, earrings, bracelets, and jewelry from Tiffany and Dior, collectively estimated to be worth up to half a million dollars. The precious metals are currently undergoing examination.

Mehrac Babayev is known as a construction magnate and a close associate of Ali Hasanov, a former assistant to the President of Azerbaijan. His construction company built the infamous "Houses of Journalists" in Baku, where facts of corruption were uncovered regarding the construction of these facilities by the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan.