Former Agriculture Minister Aziz Voitov accused of embezzling billions through family and associates

Kun.uz has studied the indictment involving former Minister of Agriculture Aziz Voitov and two others. According to the document, part of the charges against Voitov pertains to his time as Board Chairman of "Uzsanoatqurilishbank" JSC.

From December 13, 2017, to March 11, 2020, Aziz Voitov served as Chairman of the Board of "Uzsanoatqurilishbank" JSC, then from July 8, 2020, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the same bank, and from August 29, 2022, to September 25, 2023, as Minister of Agriculture. According to the indictment, while holding these positions, he committed crimes such as embezzlement, misappropriation, abuse of office, exceeding his authority, and official fraud.

Specifically, the indictment states that on June 23, 2016, Voitov established "Lanell Group" LLC in the name of his classmate A. Urunboev and appointed him as the nominal head of the company. In fact, the company was informally managed by Voitov’s father-in-law, A. Karimov, and his spouse, G. Voitova. Voitov himself determined the company’s main areas of activity and secured 21.7 billion UZS in credit from the Academic Branch of the National Bank of Foreign Economic Activity. Although the business plan indicated that the credit would be repaid through the production and dyeing of yarn, Voitov deliberately failed to repay the credit, embezzling 21.7794 billion UZS in the process.

While serving as Chairman of the Board of "Uzsanoatqurilishbank" JSC, Voitov conspired with his accomplices and, despite having a negative credit history, secured a 600,000-euro credit without collateral from the Almazar Branch of "Uzsanoatqurilishbank" for "Lanell Group" LLC to replenish working capital. However, from 2019 to 2022, he unlawfully extended the credit repayment period seven times, until September 2027, misappropriating the 600,000 euros.

In 2018, based on a government order, a multi-story residential building was to be constructed in the city of Ohangaron, Tashkent Region, as well as a seven-story building for the employees of "Uzsanoatqurilishbank" in Nurafshon city, using bank funds. Voitov and his associates exploited this opportunity: although a contractor was to be selected through a tender, Voitov unlawfully ordered the construction to be given to "Beltepa Master Stroy" LLC through the head of "Uzsanoatqurilishbank’s" regional branch in Tashkent. Voitov and his associates agreed to provide "Beltepa Master Stroy" LLC with credit for working capital and purchasing construction materials and planned to hand over the completed building to the bank at inflated prices.

Voitov and his associates provided "Beltepa Master Stroy" LLC with a total of 48.5 billion UZS in credit in 2018-2019 to construct the seven-story building. Through this scheme, Voitov and his team misappropriated 32.3947 billion UZS of the bank’s funds through embezzlement and misappropriation.

Taking advantage of his position as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Voitov planned to cover up the misappropriated bank funds, as well as the credit allocated to "Beltepa Master Stroy" LLC and the building constructed for the bank employees. He intended to create the appearance that the bank had not suffered any losses when the building was handed over to the bank’s balance for 64.5 billion UZS. To this end, he orchestrated the sale of 72 apartments located on the 2nd to 7th floors of the building to bank employees on a 15-year installment plan without an initial payment.

This resulted in the sale of the 72 apartments for a total of 38 billion UZS. The remaining unsold non-residential premises on the basement and first floors, valued at 26.5 billion UZS, were handed over to the Tashkent Regional Branch of the State Assets Management Agency. This caused damages to the bank amounting to 18.6378 billion UZS.

The indictment also notes that during Voitov's time as Minister of Agriculture, he caused damages to state interests amounting to 133.6 billion UZS by rendering two buildings unusable. One of these was an administrative building on Shakhrisabz Street, Mirobod District, Tashkent, valued at 230.4 billion soums, which was intended for the relocation of the ministry. The other involved three dormitories at the Tashkent State Agrarian University, which had not been used for years due to their poor condition. Under the former minister’s orders, illegal demolition work was carried out, rendering the buildings unusable.

Additionally, the indictment mentions that Voitov caused 2.3887 billion UZS in damages to the interests of "Chipland" LLC and embezzled a total of 4.8 billion UZS from the budget through misappropriation during his time as Minister of Agriculture.

In his testimony during the investigation, the former minister partially admitted to the charges.

“I later learned about the 22 billion UZS and 600,000 euros credit taken by 'Lanell Group' LLC. I had no involvement in the credit allocation to this company. I have no connection to 'Lanell Group,' 'Ostex TTZ,' or 'Rainbow-Tex' LLCs. These factories do not belong to me. A. Urunboev has been falsely accusing me of owning the factory to this day.

As for 'Beltepa Master Stroy' LLC, I was not aware of its details beforehand. The construction of the residential building and the administrative building for the bank employees in Nurafshon, Tashkent Region, was ordered, and I knew that the buildings were constructed. However, I had no information about how 'Beltepa Master Stroy' LLC was selected as the builder. I did not choose the contractor. I only learned after the investigation began that the founder of 'Beltepa Master Stroy' LLC was my father-in-law, A. Karimov. I was aware that the residential building for bank employees was being built using credit, but I had no information about the credit allocation process or the collateral. After the house was built, I knew that it was sold to the employees," said Aziz Voitov.

He also mentioned in his testimony that, while serving as Minister of Agriculture, he had ordered the demolition of the building belonging to "Uzdonmahsulot" JSC, with permission from Deputy Prime Minister J. Khojaev, and expressed deep regret for trusting him.

Earlier, it was reported that a trial involving former Minister of Agriculture Aziz Voitov and 49 others had begun. Journalists were banned from taking photos and videos during the trial. The Anti-Corruption Agency stated that it would be appropriate for the hearings in this case to be held openly. However, the trial against the former minister and others will be held behind closed doors.