AZE.US
Samir Yahyazade, the husband of well-known television presenter Nigar Farhad and the reported de facto manager of Aid Group, has been arrested following complaints from clients who said they lost thousands of manats.
According to Baku TV, Yahyazade has been charged under Articles 178.3.2 and 308 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code, covering large-scale fraud and abuse of official powers.
A court ordered him held in pretrial detention for three months while the investigation continues.
Aid Group founder Nigar Farhad and her mother, Arzu Aliyeva, were also questioned by investigators. No charges against either woman have been reported.
The company provided education and relocation services for Azerbaijanis seeking to study or work abroad. Its office has now closed, and footage from the premises showed that most items had been removed.
The arrest follows a series of complaints previously reported by AZE.US. A group of Baku residents said they had paid Aid Group substantial amounts for education services abroad but received neither the promised assistance nor refunds.
One client, Aliya Fandiyeva, said she contacted the company after seeing its advertisements on social media. On March 26, she signed an agreement for assistance with sending her three children to study in Canada and paid 17,000 manats, or about $10,000.
According to Fandiyeva, the payment covered visa processing and other education-related services. She said company representatives later stopped responding to her calls, while no progress was made on her children’s applications.
Another complainant, Ramin Badi Mirzazade, said he paid 4,350 manats, approximately $2,560, for help arranging studies in the United States.
He said Aid Group promised to complete the process before the September academic term and required the entire amount to be paid in cash in advance. Six to seven months later, the studies had not begun, and he had been unable to recover the money.
The complainants said many other clients may have been affected and that the total alleged losses could be substantial. Their appeals prompted law enforcement authorities to open a preliminary investigation, which led to Yahyazade’s detention.
Aid Group representatives have not publicly responded to the clients’ allegations.
AZE.US