Senior Assistant to Prosecutor Arrested for Accepting $2,500 Bribe in Bukhara
A prosecutor’s official in Bukhara’s Jondor district has been arrested for allegedly extorting money from a farmer in an attempt to influence a judge in a court ruling involving the head of a farming enterprise.
The incident took place in June 2024 when the Jondor district prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal case against the head of a farming enterprise specializing in cotton and grain production for embezzlement or misappropriation of property. In November 2024, the district court sentenced the defendant to two years of corrective labor, with 20% of his monthly salary withheld. However, the regional prosecutor’s office filed a cassation protest, arguing for a harsher sentence.
Subsequently, the senior assistant to the prosecutor in the Jondor district demanded $3,000 from the head of the farming enterprise in exchange for ensuring the court’s initial ruling remained unchanged through the judge. The assistant received an advance of $500 and was later apprehended in Bukhara city while attempting to collect the remaining $2,500. He was arrested with incriminating evidence by officers from the State Security Service and the prosecutor’s office.
In a separate incident in Urgench city, a senior investigator from the Khorezm region’s Compulsory Enforcement Bureau (CEB) was arrested for demanding $2,000 from a citizen in the Shovot district. He promised to secure their employment within the CEB system through his authorized colleagues and had already received $1,800 before being detained.
Criminal cases have been initiated in both of these incidents, and investigations are currently underway to address the corruption and extortion attempts by officials in Uzbekistan.
