Officer’s sentence reduced in $10 million gold smuggling case

An appeal has been heard against the sentence handed down to Lieutenant Colonel Gahram Mammadov, who was detained at Istanbul Airport with 70 kilograms of smuggled gold.

“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports, citing Qafqazinfo, that the Baku Court of Appeal rejected the convicted officer’s request for acquittal.

However, the Baku Military Court’s ruling was amended with regard to the sentence. Mammadov’s term was reduced from six years to five years and six months.

Mammadov served as the chief assistant to the military attaché of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the United States. When he was detained at Istanbul Airport, 70 kilograms of gold bars worth a total of 10 million manats were found in his bag. Investigators later determined that the gold had been smuggled between various countries.

The officer was ultimately charged under Articles 12.1, 206.3.2, 12.1-1 and 206.3.3 of the Criminal Code, covering smuggling by an Azerbaijani citizen outside the country as part of a group acting in prior collusion and using an official position, and under Articles 12.1-1 and 341.1, concerning abuse of official authority by an Azerbaijani citizen outside the country.