Ramin Isayev’s (also known as Ramin Ali Hakan) illegal activities: 54 million manats embezzled

Axar.az reports that interesting details of the illegal activities of Ramin Isayev (also known as Ramin Ali Hakan), who held various high-level positions in several companies, have been revealed.

Ramin Isayev was arrested by the Anti-Corruption General Directorate with the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in connection with embezzlement of a loan amounting to 16 million manats, issued in the period of 2012-2014. The International Bank of Azerbaijan granted this loan to a company linked to Baghlan Group, where Isayev held a leadership position. As a result, a preventive measure in the form of arrest was chosen against him.

However, during the investigation, other details of Ramin Isayev’s illegal activities began to emerge, including the period of his activities as the head of SOCAR AQS.

Due to gross violations and reasonable suspicions of embezzlement and other abuses at SOCAR AQS, which was his last workplace, Ramin Isayev was dismissed from his position as the company’s director in 2020, after which an investigation was launched into his activities as the head of the company.

To avoid responsibility for his actions, Isayev left Azerbaijan and acquired Turkish citizenship in mid-2022, changing his surname and obtaining new official documents under the name Ramin Ali Hakan. After unlawfully appropriating significant financial resources from SOCAR AQS, Isayev quickly adapted to a wealthy lifestyle, investing some of the embezzled funds in banks in Türkiye and other countries, as well as purchasing real estate in various elite areas of Istanbul. For a time, his Turkish citizenship and new identity helped him evade justice and conceal the embezzled assets from Azerbaijani authorities.

During the investigation, numerous criminal schemes used by Isayev have been revealed. For example, his relatives established various shell companies registered in their names, which, at Isayev’s direct instruction, purchased goods, materials, and equipment for SOCAR AQS and provided various services. They also leased land at inflated prices, resulting in the company incurring millions in losses.

Isayev not only embezzled financial resources and received numerous kickbacks but also exploited the brands of well-known international companies for criminal purposes. For instance, he renamed one of the companies, registered in the name of his relative, to Baker Energy, effectively appropriating the brand and reputation of a prominent American company.

Numerous examples of other illegal actions of Ramin Isayev can be given. For example, he conspired with a Chinese citizen, Tan Ting, using several Chinese companies to embezzle and transfer funds. It should be noted that Tan Ting, also known as Kostya Ting, was put on the international wanted list by Chinese law enforcement agencies for fraudulent activities and is currently evading justice.

Another example of Isayev’s criminal schemes involves the lease of land from the company “Ulduz.” Under the lease agreement for three hectares of land, the company “Ulduz,” registered in the name of Isayev’s sister’s brother-in-law, was paid 4.1 million manats from 2015 to 2020, whereas the actual lease value was 278,000 manats. Interestingly, the company “Ulduz” was hastily re-registered in the name of Isayev’s relatives right after the initial agreement was made at a price 10 times lower than what Isayev subsequently charged his employer. As a result, only in this episode of embezzlement, Ramin Isayev caused a loss of 3.8 million manats to SOCAR AQS.

Implementing such schemes, Isayev did not hesitate to falsify the company’s reports to conceal his crimes. For example, to hide the actual financial losses of the project implemented in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Ramin Isayev prepared fake financial documents on behalf of the Bangladeshi company Bapex, claiming that Bapex was supposed to make a payment to SOCAR AQS in the amount of 12.4 million US dollars, and then forced his subordinates to sign forged documents. As a result, Isayev managed to maximize his gains from this fraud by reporting inflated income in the annual reports, earning a bonus even from non-existent income at the end of the year, and securing a loan from one of the Azerbaijani banks on the basis of this false financial document. Currently, this fact is also being investigated as part of the criminal case filed against him.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Ramin Isayev entered into an agreement with “Rotana Lojistik İthalat İhracat ve Diş Ticaret Limited Şirketi” (Rotana), a company registered in Türkiye. Although Rotana did not provide any services to SOCAR AQS, it received $306,000 (520,000 manats) under Isayev’s instruction and signature. Based on a complaint from SOCAR AQS, the Turkish prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal case against this company. Preliminary investigations found that Rotana repeatedly received transfers in particularly large amounts from Azerbaijani companies without providing any services in return, and then these amounts were cashed in Türkiye. The investigation into these illegal money transfers and money laundering is ongoing.

Using SOCAR AQS for personal gain, Isayev employed over 30 relatives with no appropriate professional skills and assigned them high salaries unrelated to their positions and large incentive payments. Moreover, Ramin Isayev turned a blind eye to the fact that some of these employees received salaries without even coming to work. For instance, Ramin Isayev hired five members of a well-known musical ensemble, whose name is not disclosed at the moment, as strategic project and logistics specialists, paying them approximately 500,000 manats between 2016 and 2020.

To create the image of a highly educated and progressive top manager necessary for his criminal plans, Ramin Isayev covertly and without approval funded his education and related expenses at prestigious U.S. universities, including MIT, and made various donations using company funds. On August 16, 2018, and June 10, 2019, Isayev donated a total of $100,000 from company funds to the Harvard Kennedy School, presenting it as his personal contribution. These substantial sums were spent solely to have Isayev’s name listed as a donor on the prestigious educational institution’s website, allowing him to claim a “fake title” as part of his business “achievements.” After the criminal case was initiated against Isayev, his name was removed by the school from the list of donors.

It should be noted that Isayev’s criminal activities continued even after his dismissal. Driven by a sense of revenge and attempting to cover up his illegal activities, Ramin Isayev, after being removed from his position as director of SOCAR AQS, instructed his close person – the former head of the company’s IT department – to carry out a cyberattack on the company’s servers, which was indeed executed. Consequently, criminal case has been initiated against this individual under Articles 272.1 and 273.2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan and an investigation was conducted.

Moreover, to exert pressure on the independent audit and investigation process conducted within the company, Ramin Isayev, using various email addresses, sent out threats and disseminated defamatory materials about SOCAR AQS, its management, and shareholders.

According to reliable sources, Ramin Isayev’s abuses of power and mistakes were not limited to his tenure at SOCAR AQS but extended to his previous positions.

For instance, while serving as the Regional Business Development Manager at the international oil and gas services company KCA Deutag, Isayev’s mistakes and inability to fulfill his responsibilities led KCA Deutag’s management to decide not to renew his employment contract. Aware of this decision, Isayev began to threaten the management of KCA Deutag. In 2009, he attempted to discredit the company’s management in Azerbaijan by sending various defamatory letters to the British and US ambassadors to Azerbaijan. He also intimidated and threatened with physical violence the head of the company’s office in Azerbaijan, who had to seek assistance from the security chief of the British embassy in Baku.

In summary, preliminary findings from the investigation indicate that Ramin Isayev embezzled over 54 million manats that belonged to SOCAR AQS.

As previously reported, the preliminary investigation into Ramin Isayev’s case has been completed, and the materials have been sent to the Baku Court on Grave Crimes. Isayev will stand trial as a defendant under Articles 179.4, 193-1.3.2, 308.2, 313, 32.4 308.2, 32.4, 313 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The exact amount embezzled by Ramin Isayev during his illegal activities will only be known after the completion of the judicial investigation and the issuance of a verdict.