SSS detains corrupt officials in Tashkent, Fergana, Samarkand, and Namangan regions

A number of government officials in different regions of Uzbekistan have been detained on suspicion of corruption, the State Security Service (SSS) reported.

In Namangan region, a judge of the regional arbitration court under the Public Fund for the Development of International Arbitration and Arbitration Courts was caught red-handed while receiving a bribe of $3,200. The judge had demanded the money from a resident of Chust district in exchange for ruling in his favor in a dispute over an unfinished non-residential building located on a 600-square-meter plot in the Mustaqillik neighborhood.

In Fergana region, the chief specialist of the regional Department for the Development of Veterinary and Livestock Farming was detained while receiving $500 from the head of a farming enterprise. He had promised to issue a certificate reclassifying the farm as a breeding enterprise. The investigation revealed that the money was intended for the deputy head of the department, who was later detained while accepting an additional $300.

In Samarkand region’s Pastdargom district, the director of a company providing accounting services demanded $2,000 from two citizens in exchange for inflating their employment history to qualify for pensions. Acting in collusion with an employee of the Inson social services center’s district branch, he falsified personal data and promised to arrange monthly pensions of 2.5 million UZS for each. The company director was arrested while receiving $1,900.

In Tashkent, two heads of departments within the city’s Office for the Maintenance of Canals and Adjacent Areas were detained for receiving 30 million UZS from a construction company. In return, they promised not to impose a 60 million UZS fine for dumping waste soil into the Bozsu Canal and to provide “further protection.”

Criminal cases have been opened against all detainees, and investigative actions are ongoing.