Eight Tashkent police operatives convicted of extorting $233,000 in cryptocurrency from citizen

An interrupted lunch

On 26 June 2024, at around 14:00, three men in civilian clothes, later identified as junior operatives Serikbay Kulanov, Maqsud Nazarov and Akzhigit Pirmentaev from the Drug Trafficking and Psychotropic Substances Control Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department, entered the “Fistik” café on Afrosiyob Street in Mirobod District. They approached citizen M.Q., who was having lunch, confiscated the bag containing his phone and laptop, and forced him into a Nexia car waiting outside.

Confused, M.Q. asked to see their service IDs. The men replied that he would see them at the Internal Affairs building and drove him straight to the Tashkent City Main Internal Affairs Department.

What happened in room 328?

Once inside room 328, senior operative Anvar Polatov (38) and specially designated operatives Utkir Umrqulov and Jalol Khayrullayev (both born 1989) began interrogating M.Q. Utkir Umrqulov slapped him twice and demanded the phone password. When M.Q. refused, he was slapped again. The officers accused him of hacking state-related organizations, showed photos of his acquaintance Sarvar and nephew Khushnud, and threatened that “killing someone in Tashkent costs only $2,000”. They warned that unless he paid, he would be imprisoned and his parents forced to sell their home to cover the “debt”.

Under pressure, M.Q. admitted that in 2018 he had worked on a foreign programming project arranged by Sarvar and received around 1,000 Monero as payment. The officers forced him to call a trusted friend, Javlon Ahmedov. Unbeknown to M.Q., Javlon Ahmedov was already in contact with Utkir Umrqulov and had tipped him off weeks earlier that M.Q. allegedly held large amounts of cryptocurrency obtained illegally.

The transfer

That same evening, Jalol Khayrullayev sent M.Q. a Tether USDT wallet address via Telegram. Throughout the day, M.Q. liquidated various cryptocurrencies in his wallet and transferred the equivalent of $233,000 (including $13,000 belonging to the second victim, J.) to the address provided.

The officers then went to J.’s office in Yakkasaray District, detained him the moment he opened the door, and brought him back to the police building. There, J. was also beaten, handcuffed, and threatened with a truncheon until he handed over access to his wallet and admitted receiving $20,000 in crypto from a previous project.

Division of the spoils

The entire $233,000 in USDT ended up in Javlon Ahmedov’s wallet. On 27 June 2024 he cashed it out with the help of accomplices (who each received $2,300 commission), kept approximately $75,000 for himself and delivered $150,000 in cash to Utkir Umrqulov. Umrqulov then distributed the money as follows:

• $43,000 each to himself, Jalol Khayrullayev and Anvar Polatov
• $10,000 to unit head Sardor Nabiyev
• $2,000 each to junior operatives Kamoliddin Beknazarov, Serikbay Kulanov, Maqsud Nazarov and Akzhigit Pirmentaev (they were told only $60,000 total had been obtained)

Searches and seizures

On 4 July 2024, following M.Q.’s complaint to the State Security Service, urgent searches were conducted. Authorities recovered:

• $45,000 cash plus 4.2 g marijuana, 25.8 g hashish and 3.3 g mephedrone from Anvar Polatov’s home
• $56,300 from Utkir Umrqulov’s home
• $9,000 from Jalol Khayrullayev’s home
• $35,500 from Javlon Ahmedov’s home

Other participants voluntarily surrendered their shares. In total, $170,127 in cash was seized and recognized as material evidence.

Court verdict

By the sentence of Yangihayot District Criminal Court dated 27 May 2025 (upheld on appeal on 16 September 2025 and in supervisory instance on 30 October 2025), the defendants were convicted under the following articles of the Criminal Code:

• Utkir Umrqulov and Jalol Khayrullayev – 11 years’ imprisonment each
• Anvar Polatov – 11 years’ imprisonment (with compulsory drug treatment)
• Serikbay Kulanov and Javlon Ahmedov – 10 years’ imprisonment each
• Sardor Nabiyev – 4 years’ imprisonment
• Kamoliddin Beknazarov, Maqsud Nazarov and Akzhigit Pirmentaev – 2 years 1 month 6 days’ restriction of liberty each (time served deducted)

All police officers were banned for two years from holding positions of authority or material responsibility, including any work in internal affairs bodies. The seized $170,127 was transferred to the state, and an additional $60,873 was ordered to be recovered jointly from the five main perpetrators for the benefit of the state.