Customs and Tax officials caught accepting bribes (video)

The employees of the Customs and Tax committees were caught accepting bribes in the Tashkent region and Tashkent city, the State Security Service reported.

According to reports, during an operational raid, an inspector at the ’’Navoi’’ border customs post of the Tashkent regional customs department was caught in Chirchik city accepting $5,000 in exchange for illegally transporting 7 kg of gold precious metals from Kazakhstan. The inspector exploited his official position to bypass customs declaration and conceal the shipment from customs control for a citizen born in 1979 residing in the Tashkent district. A criminal case has been initiated against the customs officer under Article 210, part 2, clause ’’v’’ of the Criminal Code, and pretrial detention has been imposed as a precautionary measure.

In a separate case in Tashkent city, the Chief Inspector of the Shaykhontokhur district Tax Inspection was caught demanding $2,500 in exchange for using his official position to shut down the operations of an LLC engaged in wholesale food trade through his high-ranking contacts. During an operational raid, he was apprehended with the requested money in front of the district Tax Inspection building, with material evidence seized. A criminal case has been initiated against the Chief Inspector under Article 168, part 3, clause ’’v,’’ Article 28, and Article 211, part 1 of the Criminal Code.

In another case, an inspector from the Local Tax Inspectors’ department of Mirabad district abused his position by accepting 10 million soms into his bank card in exchange for refraining from conducting tax inspections at a retail shop in his assigned area and for providing advance notice of any future tax inspections. His illegal actions were stopped during the investigation.

It is worth noting that earlier, the head of one of the border customs posts in the Fergana region was caught accepting a bribe. Meanwhile, the head of the Yangiari city Tax Inspection in Syrdarya region was dismissed after attempting to solicit a female entrepreneur.