Azernews.Az

By Akbar Mammadov

Three officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have remanded in custody by a court order on charges of bribery, abuse of power and embezzlement, the State Security Service reported on July 6.

The investigation into the three officials was launched after State Security Service obtained material about their activities.

As a result of the investigation, Farhad Molla-Zadeh, Chairman of the Tender Commission of the Ministry, Salim Alizadeh, Head of the Economics Department of the Affairs Department, and Nurupasha Abdullayev, Chief of the Consular-Legal Department of the Consular Department, have been remanded in custody by a court decision.

Molla-Zadeh and Alizadeh were charged under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan for abuse of power, misappropriation, and bribery, while Abdullayev was charged for bribery.

The State Security Service investigated the pieces of information obtained on the seizure of state funds intended for the activities of various structures of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bribery in connection with various activities, including visa applications of foreign citizens and other illegal acts.

As a result of the investigation, reasonable suspicions have been identified that Farhad Molla-Zadeh, Salim Alizadeh and Nurupasha Abdullayev committed numerous illegal actions.

Thus, based on the court's decisions, the State Security Service conducted reviews to the service and residential addresses of Farhad Molla-zade, Salim Alizade, Nurupasha Abdullayev, as well as places where there are documents confirming the payment of bribes in exchange for the allocation of funds for the execution of documents and work on legal entities established for the misappropriation of public funds by non-commodity transactions.

Te State Security Service established that Farhad Molla-Zadeh and Salim Alizadeh misappropriated part of the funds allocated from the state budget in order to ensure the functioning of the structures of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Also, information was received that Farhad Molla-Zadeh and Salim Alizadeh took bribes in the amount of a certain part of the funds from the entrepreneurs who transferred money to the accounts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the purchase of goods for economic needs.

In addition, the investigation revealed that Nurupasha Abdullayev regularly took bribes in exchange for illegal actions related to the provision of visa applications for foreign nationals for whom electronic visas are not applied to enter Azerbaijan.

The State Security Service said that the criminal case is under investigation.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan’s State Security Service (SSS) conducted investigative-operational measures at the Foreign Affairs Ministry on 3 July.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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