Baku: The next hearing has been held in the criminal case initiated by the State Security Service (SSS) against Anass Derraz, Vice President of the French company ‘SAUR,’ who is accused of accepting large-scale bribes and committing other criminal offenses, APA reports. At today’s session, held at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes under the chairmanship of Judge Farid Namazov, the defendant gave testimony.
According to Azeri-Press News Agency, Derraz stated that he came to Azerbaijan on a business trip: ‘I came to invest in Azerbaijan’s water infrastructure. On the second day of my visit to the country, I gave a statement at the administrative building of the State Security Service. I am accused of passive corruption and participating in the legalization of property obtained through criminal means. Regarding the incident, I can say that in October 2022, I was approached by the office of Farhad Ahmadov. Due to his divorce, the London Court had ordered the freezing of his assets. Therefore, Farhad Ahmadov contacted me to resolve certain legal matters, including calculating the annual cost of his $500 million yacht, which amounted to $16 million. He reached out to me after learning about my work as a consultant. At that time, I was managing multibillion-dollar projects with the company ‘Viola.’ Everyone knew me for my ability to handle very complex issues effectively. We signed contracts with Farhad Ahmadov, and I
was going to assist them legally. He also issued me a power of attorney to carry out these tasks. I request that this be included in the case materials.’
It was stated in court that the document had been added to the case materials. In the continuation of his testimony, A. Derraz said that based on that power of attorney, he acted as a strategic advisor on matters related to F. Ahmadov’s yacht named ‘Luna’: ‘As a strategic advisor and team leader, I carried out procedures related to the yacht on behalf of F. Ahmadov. My duty was to oversee the legal procedures.’
A. Derraz also stated that he wants to respond to the charges one by one: ‘The advance payment I mentioned earlier amounted to $200,000. If I had managed to lift the freeze, he would have had to pay me $2 million. We compared this figure to assets worth $500 million. We were trying to resolve the issue quickly, as due to technical reasons, the yacht’s value was decreasing each day. At the time of signing the contract, Benalla had already been dismissed from French President Macron’s administration, and an investigation was underway against him in France. Farhad Ahmadov told me that Benalla had supported him in matters related to his wife and was professional in his work, with good connections in Dubai. Ahmadov also stated this in his testimony. I only worked with Farhad Ahmadov, assisted them, and provided information.’
The hearing was postponed for the translation of documents added to the case file from English. The next hearing is scheduled for September 11.
Note that according to the charges, in a criminal case investigated by Azerbaijan’s State Security Service (SSS), former head of the French Presidential Security Service Alexandre Benalla and Anass Derraz, Vice President of the French company SAUR, which has a turnover of billions, are accused of receiving large-scale bribes and committing other criminal offenses in exchange for lifting international sanctions against Azerbaijani-born Russian billionaire Farhad Ahmadov’s assets in 2018.
Previous reports published in both foreign and local media claim that the two men solicited bribes from Ahmadov, promising in return to secure the release of his luxurious ‘Luna’ yacht from international seizure and protect him from sanctions.
According to available information, a portion of the multimillion-dollar bribe was reportedly transferred to Anass Derraz’s account at Al Hilal Bank and to Alexandre Benalla’s account at Bank of Africa United Kingdom PLC SC PAR.
Anass Derraz was detained in Azerbaijan under circumstances that remain unclear, and he has been prohibited from leaving the country. Azerbaijan has also requested INTERPOL to issue a warrant for Alexandre Benalla.
Derraz has been charged under the following articles of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code: 193-1.3.2 – Money laundering committed in significant amounts and 32.5, 311.3.3 – Passive bribery (accepting a bribe), committed in large amounts. A travel restriction has been imposed on him as a preventive measure.