People who promised Hajj trips in exchange for money detained

Several individuals who fraudulently promised to send people on Hajj pilgrimages in exchange for money have been detained in Syrdarya and Fergana regions. This was reported by the State Security Service of Uzbekistan.

According to the report, during an operation conducted by the Syrdarya regional department of the State Security Service in cooperation with internal affairs bodies, a man born in 1997—an employee of a Tashkent-based travel company—was caught while receiving \$12,800 in exchange for arranging Hajj trips for two residents of Boyovut district.

Preliminary investigations revealed that two other employees of the same company, born in 1980 and 1994, were also involved. They allegedly gained the trust of citizens and devised a scheme to misappropriate their money under the pretense of organizing pilgrimages.

A criminal case has been initiated under Part 3, Clause “a” of Article 168 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code. Two of the suspects have been placed in pretrial detention, and efforts are underway to identify additional victims.

In a separate operation carried out by the Fergana Regional Department of the State Security Service and the regional Department of Internal Affairs, a resident of Margilan, born in 1986, was detained while accepting \$11,000 from a citizen of Tashlok district in exchange for facilitating a Hajj trip.

A criminal case has been opened against the suspect under Article 25.168, Part 3, Clause “a” of the Criminal Code, and investigations are ongoing.

It should be recalled that earlier in Namangan, a citizen was arrested after demanding \$13,500 from two people by falsely promising to send them on a Hajj pilgrimage.