The activists called on the US agency to use all its powers to prevent the Swiss Federal Office of Justice from returning the stolen assets to Gulnara Karimova. They believe the daughter of former Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov illegally obtained them through a multi-million dollar bribe scheme with international telecommunications companies.
Karimova was given over $1 billion in bribes from mobile operators MTS VimpelCom (now known as Veon) and Teliasonera (now known as Telia). In exchange for bribes, Karimova used her considerable political influence to get the government to issue licenses and telecommunications frequencies for the benefit of three telecommunications companies. Bribes were laundered through offshore companies controlled by Karimova, mainly Takilant Ltd and Swisdorn Ltd, registered in Gibraltar. A portion of these $800 million in bribes is currently held in Swiss banks. In 2012, a criminal case was initiated on suspicion of money laundering. One part of these assets in the amount of $131 million has been confiscated and is already in the process of restitution to Uzbekistan.
With regard to the second part of the assets, estimated at $293 million, the decision to confiscate was made in December 2021. However, under the same decision, about $70 million was to be returned to Takilant Ltd. Gulnara Karimova’s lawyers appealed the decision, arguing that the entire amount in question, $350 million, should be returned to Gulnara Karimova.
Legal research service Bloomberg Law previously reported on the decision of the appellate chamber of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court to partially satisfy the complaint of Gulnara Karimova’s lawyers on charges of corruption. The ruling could help her recover 293 million francs ($303 million) from the frozen funds.
In 2015 and 2016, the US Department of Justice brought two civil suits for the forfeiture of assets obtained by Gulnara Karimova by extorting bribes from telecommunications companies, and in 2019 a criminal case was opened against Karimova on charges of money laundering.
Activists are counting on the initiation of new lawsuits to seize the amount that the Swiss court decided to return to Gulnara Karimova.
“In Uzbek society, an unambiguous point of view prevails – all of Gulnara’s assets should belong to Uzbekistan. Along with this, the important question remains: how to fully use the returned funds for the benefit of the people and how to reduce the costs of servicing such a significant amount?”, the ACCA expert asks.
Uzbekistan and Switzerland signed an agreement on August 16, 2022 on how to return the assets of Gulnara Karimova. Switzerland will return $131 million via the Uzbekistan Vision 2030 UN Trust Fund.
The structural element of the fund will be a kind of advisory council of civil society, consisting of representatives of Uzbekistan and Switzerland, as well as international non-governmental organizations. They will exercise control over the activities of the fund on a voluntary basis and without wages. The expert notes that “It is not yet known who exactly will represent Uzbekistan.”
Public administration reform specialist Aziza Umarova is unimpressed by these lackluster assurances and cautiously emphasizes that very serious public control is needed over how exactly the funds will be distributed, otherwise the money can also easily evaporate.
A more definite position among those who signed the appeal – “Switzerland has not only become a destination and a haven for illegal assets, but the decisions of its judicial bodies legitimize this state of affairs, making the country an accomplice of major corruption and money laundering.” Of the 10 signatories, only three live in Uzbekistan.
