Senior assistant to prosecutor arrested for accepting $2,500 bribe in Bukhara

Reports indicate that in June 2024, the Jondor district prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal case against the head of a farming enterprise specializing in cotton and grain production under Article 167, Part 2, "a" of the Criminal Code (embezzlement or misappropriation of property). In November 2024, the district court reviewed the case and sentenced the defendant to two years of corrective labor, with 20% of his monthly salary withheld.

However, the regional prosecutor’s office filed a cassation protest, arguing that a harsher sentence should have been imposed.

Aware of the situation, the senior assistant to the prosecutor in Jondor district demanded $3,000 from the head of the farming enterprise in exchange for ensuring the court’s initial ruling remained unchanged through the judge, and received an advance of $500.

The assistant was apprehended in Bukhara city while attempting to collect the remaining $2,500 and was arrested with incriminating evidence by officers from the State Security Service and the prosecutor’s office.

In a separate operation in Urgench city, officers from the State Security Service arrested a senior investigator from the Khorezm region’s Compulsory Enforcement Bureau (CEB). He had demanded $2,000 from a citizen in the Shovot district, promising to secure their employment within the CEB system through his authorized colleagues. The investigator received $1,800 before being detained.

Criminal cases have been initiated regarding these incidents, and investigations are currently underway.