Details of the criminal case of Vidadi Mustafayev, the former head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia's Ural region, have been revealed.
Modern.az reports that, according to the investigation, he is accused of 3 episodes of fraud. Vidadi Mustafayev is suspected of taking large sums of money from acquaintances, including Azerbaijani compatriots, and not returning it, as well as embezzling a “Porsche” car. However, according to the lawyers defending Vidadi Mustafayev, the investigation has no real evidence of his guilt.
Although the Lenin District Court of Yekaterinburg planned to begin hearing the criminal case of Vidadi Mustafayev, the former head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Urals, on June 9, it was unable to do so due to violations of procedural norms – the accused was not notified in time about the start of the process. Therefore, the court considered the issue of a precautionary measure and extended his arrest for six months. The next hearing is scheduled for June 22.
In the final version of the indictment, Vidadi Mustafayev is charged with fraud on three episodes (Parts 3 and 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The criminal case was initiated after three victims – first Azerbaijani Novruz Sadatov, and then Andrey Pankratov and Farid Boliyev – appealed to the Department for Combating Organized Crime of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs for the Sverdlovsk region. Each of them complained that Vidadi Mustafayev owed them a large sum of money.
Thus, in 2025, Novruz Sadatov, who was in a partnership with Vidadi Mustafayev, offered him to buy a “Porsche” car from Georgia for 5 million rubles. He agreed and stated that he would pay for the car later. Novruz Sadatov registered the car in the name of Vidadi Mustafayev's mother, but could not get the money. When the payment was due, the accused stated that due to the high utilization fee, it was not worth selling the car now. Allegedly, the accused offered to sell the car either now at a high price, or a year later to avoid the fee. According to the defense, Vidadi Mustafayev himself was ready to return the car to the victim. After that, Novruz Sadatov wrote an application stating that Vidadi Mustafayev additionally owed him 5 million rubles for plane tickets, restaurants, hookahs, and other expenses. In addition, the investigation valued the “Porsche” at 10 million rubles.
Novruz Sadatov himself is also accused in a criminal case. According to the investigation, he took a motorcycle from the public organization “Public Control Committee” to deliver necessary items to Russian servicemen fighting in Ukraine. However, according to the defense of Vidadi Mustafayev, he sold the motorcycle and kept the money.
Farid Boliyev, on the other hand, allegedly gave funds he received from an individual entrepreneur to Vidadi Mustafayev, whom he considered a high-ranking law enforcement officer, to remove his rivals from business. Later, according to the investigation, the accused did not fulfill the terms of the deal, using the money for his own interests. As a result, he owed Farid Boliyev more than 700 thousand rubles.
According to court information, Farid Boliyev was recently prosecuted in another criminal case. Vidadi Mustafayev's defense claims that during confrontations, he admitted that law enforcement officers forced him to give false testimony against the accused, in exchange for which he would receive a suspended sentence.
Vidadi Mustafayev did not plead guilty. His lawyers believe that the investigation has no real evidence.
Vidadi Mustafayev became the head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Urals on September 1, 2025. Until then, this post was held by Shahin Shikhlinski, who was later detained within the framework of a criminal case (in April, the Kirov District Court of Yekaterinburg sentenced him to 24 years in a strict regime correctional facility based on the totality of sentences). Four months after Shikhlinski's detention, Vidadi Mustafayev was also detained. After his arrest, ex-employee of Russian law enforcement agencies, Colonel Karim Gasimov, was elected to the post of leader of the Azerbaijani diaspora.
