Authorities uncover UZS 28.5 billion cashback fraud scheme in Fergana

The illicit operation was exposed by officers from the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor General’s Office. According to investigators, three individuals set up multiple Telegram groups to sell artificial cashback points tied to purchase receipts from seven shell companies. The group targeted both regular consumers and vulnerable citizens, offering a 1% cashback rate to standard individuals and a 12% social cashback rate to those registered in the unified social protection registry.

The seven companies involved in the scheme existed only on paper and conducted absolutely no real financial or business operations. Instead, the suspects generated fraudulent electronic invoices indicating that goods and services worth UZS 3.3 trillion had allegedly been purchased. Additionally, they manipulated online cash registers to log fake sales receipts, which were subsequently sold to citizens through Telegram.

As a result of this scheme, 211,584 citizens were credited with a total of UZS 28.5 billion in fraudulent cashback through the Soliq Mobile app, out of which UZS 3.2 billion has already been paid out from the state budget.

A criminal case has been launched under Article 167 (theft by embezzlement or misappropriation) and Article 228 (fabrication, forgery of documents, stamps, seals, blanks, their sale or use) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. A full investigation is currently underway to identify all parties involved.

This crackdown comes amid a broader push by fiscal authorities to curb tax fraud. The Tax Committee recently suspended the payout of over UZS 100 billion in social cashback. More than 200,000 individuals have been flagged in a registry of suspicious buyers after audit authorities suspected them of attempting to claim illegal VAT refunds using fraudulent receipts.