Civil servants embezzle more than 3.3 billion soums allocated for mosques and madrasas in Bukhara

A working group led by Deputy Prosecutor General Sh. Tukhtabayev studied the issues of protecting cultural heritage sites located on the territory of the Bukhara region, the PGO press service reported.

In particular, the Working Group, together with specialists from the Cultural Heritage Agency, examined a number of historical monuments of the city of Bukhara, where restoration work was carried out: the Khoja Kalon minaret, the Hussein and Nodir Devanbegi madrasas, as well as the Ark complex.

During the study, it turned out that during restoration and repair work, by making false entries in documents about the work performed, material damage was caused in the following amounts:

731 million soums to the Khoja Kalon minaret;
216 million soums – Khusayni madrasa;
90 million soums – Nodir Devonbegi madrasa.

It is also noted that previously 50 million soums were allocated for the installation of signs at 74 cultural sites located in the historical center of Bukhara. It was established that these budget funds were embezzled.

In addition, employees of the Bukhara Regional Restoration Center spent 2.3 billion soums on their own needs, intended for the purchase of inventory items.

Criminal cases have been initiated against officials of the Bukhara Regional Restoration Center and others under Paragraph “a”, Part 3 of Article 167 (Theft by embezzlement, committed on an especially large scale) and Paragraph “a”, Part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code (Official forgery committed repeatedly or by a dangerous repeat offender). An investigation is underway.