Entrepreneur detained in Bukhara with $600,000 bribe

An entrepreneur who attempted to sell 290 hectares of land for $600,000 has been detained in Peshku district of Bukhara region, the State Security Service reported.

According to the statement, the private entrepreneur, born in 1973 and living in Syrdarya district of Syrdarya region, tried to sell 290 hectares of state reserve land in Peshku district believed to contain gold and other precious metals. He allegedly promised to secure the land through auction with the help of officials he claimed to know and demanded $600,000 from a resident of Shofirkon district born in 1983.

Officers from the State Security Service’s Bukhara regional department and the Department for Combating Economic Crimes detained the suspect during a special operation while he was receiving $230,000 in advance and 840 million soums. The individual had previously been convicted several times for fraud.

A criminal case has been opened under Articles 25-168 (fraud) and 28-211 (bribery) of the Criminal Code, and the suspect has been placed in pre-trial detention.

Earlier, a district governor’s assistant in Namangan region was detained for attempting to sell 0.9 hectares of state reserve land for $4,500.

Javohir Alikulov