Uzbekistan: official with his accomplices will stand trial for embezzlement

In one criminal case, former deputy hokim of Jizakh region, Akram Rakhmonkulov, together with officials of the tender commission and entrepreneurs, will face trial for violations in public procurement. They were charged with embezzlement of $ 86,000, abuse of power and official forgery.

The Anti-Corruption Agency and the Chamber of Accounts identified cases of affiliation in public procurement, lack of legal response from the relevant officials and forgery of tender documents.

All commercial structures, that participated in the tender, belong to the relatives of the chairman of the tender commission, already the former deputy head of the region.

As a result, during the construction of an administrative building of one of the companies affiliated with Rakhmonkulov, budget funds were plundered. Distortions of outstanding construction work amounted to 905 million sums (8% of the total project cost).

On January 19, Rakhmonkulov was dismissed from office. Based on the results of the pre-investigation check of the Prosecutor’s office, a criminal case was initiated against the official, heads of the commission and other organizations, as well as officials of private enterprises under paragraph “a” of part 3 of article 167 (embezzlement on an especially large scale), paragraph “a” of part 2 of article 205 (abuse of power or official powers with causing especially large damage) and part 1 of article 209 (official forgery) of the Criminal Code.