In addition, Mammadov has real estate in the UK worth more than $30 million. Most of the properties were acquired when his father was the Minister of Transport of Azerbaijan.

The US and UK have already raised the issue of the origin of the Mamedov family’s wealth. In recent years, the UK authorities have begun to more closely monitor money of dubious origin coming into the country, including from Azerbaijan, which consistently ranks last in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.

Son of Azerbaijani ex-minister leased 26 properties in UK through three companies

Information that Mammadov opened KFC restaurants in the UK appeared in the Azerbaijani media at the end of 2022. The tycoon’s father, Ziya Mammadov, claimed that his son did not have a single restaurant in the country.

However, an investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service has revealed that Anar Mammadov’s portfolio in England includes at least 20 KFC restaurants, which he owns through three subsidiaries of his UK company - which he owns through a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

According to the UK Land Registry, Mamedov used three companies - Amber Restaurants Limited, BJR Foods Limited and Colonel Foods Limited - to lease 26 properties in the UK.

According to the latest financial reports, Mamedov’s UK company 1st Rate Investments (UK) Limited had an average turnover of approximately $50 million in 2021 and 2022, and its share capital in 2022 was approximately $7 million.

Guernsey-registered fiduciary fined over high-risk clients

According to the Panama Papers leak, 1st Rate Investments Limited in the BVI was managed by a fiduciary company, Hansard Limited, registered in Guernsey.

In December 2021, Guernsey’s financial regulators fined Hansard, saying the company "failed to monitor and control the financial crime risk associated with its clients". Mamedov was not named in the fine, but the Guernsey Financial Services Commission cited the case of a client identified as "Mr A" whose profile matched that of the Azerbaijani tycoon as an example of the company’s negligence.

Guernsey regulators ruled that Hansard failed to take "reasonable steps to establish the source of wealth" of Mr A, who became their client, and failed to identify him as a politically exposed person within two years of starting their relationship.

Anar Mamedov tried to obtain a passport of St. Kitts and Nevis

In 2015, Mamedov and his family turned to Henley & Partners, a UK-based “citizenship planning” firm that helped high-risk clients obtain citizenship in St Kitts and Nevis, according to an investigation published by OCCRP in 2022.

According to leaked documents obtained by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, the tycoon said in a statement that he intends to obtain Maltese citizenship because it will give him more freedom to travel and he is also interested in business opportunities on the island.

In the "occupation" column, Mamedov indicated that he was the owner of a large holding group that owned several KFC branches. At that time, the UK company’s documents did not indicate the ultimate beneficial owner of the KFC operator.

Based on the leaked data, Henley&Partners looked into Mamedov’s background and concluded that working with the businessman carried too much reputational risk for both the company and the Maltese authorities.