Where Did the Money Go?

The Azerbaijani Laundromat is the name journalists gave to two years’ worth of records from four accounts at the Danske Bank branch in Tallinn, Estonia. The records, leaked to the Danish newspaper Berlingske and shared with OCCRP, detail what happened to nearly US$ 3 billion routed through a maze of transactions designed to obscure what was going on.

The records provide a rare snapshot of where the money came from, where it went, who was involved and how it was spent. Not all details can be clearly seen, but the overall picture is crystal clear.

Some of the transactions traced below were perfectly legitimate, if unusual: payment for services rendered by law-abiding companies who may not have realized that the payee was a front company for hidden owners. Other transactions are more suspect, such as wildly expensive airline tickets or trips that cost many thousands more than you’d expect.

Reporters tried hard to contact all parties named in the records. In some cases, companies had folded; in others, principals are facing criminal charges. Some said they didn’t remember, or denied all knowledge of the companies that sent out or received the money.

Many of those involved are citizens of Azerbaijan, often linked in some way to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s family or clique of friends and business associates. Others are foreign politicians, sports figures, service providers or even governments.

It is unknown how many of these laundromats continue to spin today.