Ilham and Ilgar Nagiyev

Brothers Ilham and Ilgar Nagiyev were popular with Metastar Invest. Ilham Nagiyev received $255,732 in Czech and British accounts from Metastar between August 2012 and July 2013. The payments were made in a mixture of British pounds and euros. Two of the payments - worth $129,388 - were allegedly for computers.

Over the same period of time, his brother Ilgar received $34,835 in his own Czech and British accounts from Metastar Invest.

Ilham Nagiyev, born Jan. 1, 1988, and Ilgar Nagiyev, born May 1, 1989, are the sons of Ali Nagiyev, the deputy chief of the Anti-Corruption General Directorate with the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The brothers were the directors of the Odlar Yurdu Organisation (OYO), which claimed to be a non-profit, non-partisan, and non-governmental organization that began as a student organization in London. In 2008, the same year it was founded, OYO held an exhibition at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) called “Azerbaijan: its past, present and future,” hosting diplomats, academics and the Azerbaijani ambassador at the opening. The exhibition covered history, culture and the Armenian conflict with Azerbaijan.

Spokespeople for SOAS could not confirm that this event took place.

In December 2012, according to its Facebook page, OYO held a conference in the British parliament together with President Aliyev’s daughter Leyla Aliyeva to “promote the Azerbaijani model of tolerance in Europe.” Later on, OYO expanded its activities and now “promotes the problems of Azerbaijan in Europe.”

Ilgar and Ilham Nagiyev hold a majority stake in Czech-based AME Holding, which received more than a million dollars from Metastar in 2013, as well as other real estate businesses. A company called Nettle Stone Investments Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands, currently owns 100 percent of AME Holding. While both brothers have owned shares in Nettle Stone at various times, currently Ilham Nagiyev is sole shareholder.