Uzbekistan’s general prosecutors office issued a statement Sept. 8 naming Gulnara Karimova as a suspected member of an organized criminal operation which has damaged the economy, reports the Press Office of the Prosecutor General.
Close associates of Karimova fell under investigation in February as telecommunications giant TeliaSonera was suspected of paying nearly US$ 300 million in bribes for 3G rights in Uzbekistan, according to a previous OCCRP report.
Shortly after the investigations began, Karimova was placed under unofficial house arrest and two of her associates were jailed. The prosecutor’s announcement is the first official statement acknowledging Karimova’s involvement, according to Eurasianet.
The group allegedly operated between 2011 and 2013. Those involved are suspected of money laundering, blackmail and extortion, forgery, and siphoning assets in multiple enterprises.
As a result, the group was able to acquire state assets at “artificially low prices,” according to the official report. Euraisianet reports that property worth about US$ 194 million has been recovered from the members of the organized crime group.
