Officials foil $160K land fraud scheme in Andijan; cadastre officer arrested in Tashkent

According to the State Security Service, criminal cases have been opened in both incidents, and investigations are underway.

The first case was launched after a complaint was submitted to the State Security Service's call center. Officers from the agency's Tashkent Directorate, working jointly with the Department for Combating Economic Crimes, carried out an operation that led to the detention of the chief inspector of the Yashnobod District Department of the Cadastre Agency.

Investigators allege that the official accepted $2,000 through an intermediary in exchange for refraining from ordering the demolition of illegally installed lightweight structures belonging to a local resident and for not imposing an administrative fine.

A separate operation in Andijan targeted an alleged scheme involving state reserve land.

According to investigators, a woman born in 1984 told a prospective buyer that she had supposedly acquired 40 acres of state reserve land in Andijan district through the E-auksion platform. She allegedly claimed she could use her contacts within the cadastre system to register the land in the buyer's name.

The suspect is accused of demanding $160,000 for the deal.

During a joint operation involving the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Department for Combating Economic Crimes, she was detained after allegedly receiving an advance payment of $80,000.

Law enforcement authorities said criminal proceedings have been initiated in both cases, and the pre-trial investigation is ongoing.