Security services detain electricity officials over UZS 150 million extortion schemes

The joint operations, conducted by the State Security Service and the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor General’s Office, exposed illicit bribery schemes aimed at manipulating utility access and corporate debts. Across both cases, the suspects allegedly demanded a combined total of UZS 150,000,000 from local business operators.

The first investigation unfolded in the Fergana region, where a district power distribution engineer targeted the owner of a local construction materials manufacturing plant. The engineer reportedly demanded UZS 100,000,000 to facilitate the installation of a new power transmission line, hook up industrial electricity meters, and bypass regulatory red tape by exploiting personal connections within sector oversight bodies to secure official permits. The engineer, who already holds a prior criminal record, was apprehended red-handed by security agents during an undercover sting operation precisely as he accepted the full cash sum. The illicit funds were seized at the scene as evidence.

A parallel extortion case was uncovered in the Sharof Rashidov district of Jizzakh region. In this instance, a power grid engineer approached a local farmer who had accumulated UZS 122,000,000 in overdue electricity bills. The technician offered to completely erase the substantial debt from the utility company's database using his network of inside contacts in exchange for a UZS 50,000,000 kickback. The farmer initially provided a down payment of UZS 10,000,000, and law enforcement officers moved in to detain the suspect just as he was receiving the remaining UZS 40,000,000 balance.

Criminal proceedings have been formally initiated under the relevant sections of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan for both offenses, and broader investigations remain underway to determine if other public utility officials were complicit in the extortion rings.