Friday, September 29, 2023

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Swiss indict daughter of former Uzbek president in bribery, money laundering case involving millions

JAMEY KEATEN
Fri, September 29, 2023

 Gulnara Karimova arrives for the screening of the film "The Exodus - Burnt By The Sun 2", at the 63rd international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, on May 22, 2010. Swiss federal prosecutors say they have indicted on Thursday Sept. 28, 2023 the daughter of a former president of Uzbekistan on charges including alleged money laundering, bribery and participation in a criminal network that used “violence and intimidation” to get its way.
 (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File) 

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss federal prosecutors have indicted the daughter of a former president of Uzbekistan on charges including money laundering, bribery and participation in a criminal network that used “violence and intimidation.” Authorities have already frozen or confiscated hundreds of millions of Swiss francs (dollars) in the case.

The attorney general's office said Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former President Islam Karimov, was indicted along with the former director-general of the Uzbek subsidiary of a Russian telecommunications company for crimes allegedly committed between 2005 and 2013.

That was during Karimov's tenure: He led the central Asian country for more than a quarter-century until his death in September 2016. His daughter once served at the U.N. office in Geneva, and benefited from diplomatic immunity.

Karimova has faced a series of trials after a first conviction in Uzbekistan eight years ago. She was initially ordered to serve her sentence at her daughter’s home, but a 2019 court ruling placed her behind bars for violating the terms of her confinement. She is now serving a 13-year sentence for organizing a criminal group, extortion and embezzlement.


Culminating a criminal probe that was opened over a decade ago, the Swiss prosecutors announced the indictment on Thursday and said Karimova allegedly developed and ran a crime ring known as “The Office” that involved several dozen people and multiple companies.

The network began its operations in Switzerland in 2005 “in order to conceal the capital originating from its criminal dealings in Swiss bank accounts and safes and by purchasing real estate,” the Swiss prosecutors said.

Owners of some accounts in Switzerland were actually “straw men” conjured up to cover up the fact that Karimova was the real beneficiary of the accounts, the prosecutors said.

"‘The Office’ conducted its criminal activities as a professional business, complying with mandatory regulations and observing a strict allocation of tasks, while also resorting to violence and intimidation," they said in a statement.

The telecoms industry was one of Uzbekistan's most profitable sectors starting in the early 2000s, and foreign firms that sought to enter were required to pay Karimova bribes — through “The Office” — to gain access to it, the prosecutors said.

Swiss authorities have frozen more than 440 million Swiss francs ($483 million) in assets in connection with the case, the prosecutors said. They already confiscated more than 340 million francs after four people were convicted between 2018 and 2021 of money laundering and forgery of documents as part of the investigation.

The prosecutors said the confiscated funds were being held “with a view to being returned to Uzbekistan.”

A criminal probe is continuing into the Swiss private bank Lombard Odier and others on suspicion of money laundering and failing to properly monitor financial transactions in connection with the case, the prosecutors said.

The case has led to criminal proceedings in other countries including Britain, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United States.

Last year, Swiss authorities announced a deal to return some funds to Uzbekistan that were part of the 340 million francs that had already been confiscated.

Gulnara Karimova: Swiss say Uzbekistan ex-leader's daughter ran huge crime network

BBC
Fri, September 29, 2023

Gulnara Karimova spent a fortune on her luxury lifestyle

Swiss prosecutors have charged Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan's former president, with running an international crime syndicate that laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes.

The authorities have seized assets worth SFr 780m (£700m; $857m) in the probe, covering the period 2005-2013.

Karimova has been in jail in Uzbekistan since 2014, convicted of embezzlement.

She denies the bribery charges, which concern lucrative telecoms contracts.

She formerly had a high profile in the ex-Soviet state in Central Asia, wielding great influence as daughter of its autocratic leader Islam Karimov, who ruthlessly crushed opposition.

She had her own jewellery line, ran an entertainment television channel and released pop singles under the name Googoosha.

The Swiss indictment also targets an unnamed businessman who ran the Uzbek branch of a Russian telecoms firm.

Karimova is accused of taking bribes in return for access to Uzbekistan's telecoms sector and of laundering the money through Swiss bank accounts and an elaborate network of accounts in other countries.

Her fake organisation was known as The Office. Besides fraud, the group allegedly used violence and intimidation in its operation.

In August the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) confiscated three luxury properties worth more than £20m owned by Karimova.

The Swiss federal prosecutors' indictment says the named beneficial owners of the accounts were "straw men" who concealed the fact that Karimova was the true beneficiary.

Karimova enjoyed protection as Uzbekistan's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, but lost that immunity in 2013 - at which point Switzerland was able to expand its investigation into her finances.

Her organisation also came under criminal investigation in Sweden, France, Norway, the Netherlands, the US and UK.

Massive warehouse explosion in Uzbek capital leaves one dead and scores injured

Jonny Hallam, Mariya Knight, Simone McCarthy and Lauren Kent, CNN
Thu, September 28, 2023 

At least one person was killed and 162 people were injured in a massive warehouse explosion in the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent early on Thursday morning, health officials said.

The situation at the scene of the warehouse explosion in Tashkent, Uzbekistan is “under control” as emergency workers continue efforts to fully extinguish a fire caused by the explosion, the Uzbek Ministry of Emergencies said in an update.

A teenager, aged 16 or 17, died at the scene, according to the Health Ministry. The ministry also said 24 of the people injured were admitted to hospitals.

“From the first minutes, the leadership of the Ministry of Emergency Situations has been working at the scene of the incident, and the forces and resources of specialized organizations have been involved,” a Ministry of Emergencies statement read, adding that the fire was contained at 5:02 a.m. local time on Thursday (8:00 p.m. ET). Authorities are still investigating the cause of the incident and working to provide assistance to the victims.

Several videos circulating on social media earlier on Thursday showed a huge column of fire and smoke billowing into the night sky.

The Ministry of Emergencies said the fire was caused by an explosion in an area of warehouses owned by Inter Logistics LLC, located in the city’s Sergeli district. The area is close to Tashkent’s airport.

The blast happened at a warehouse close to Tashkent's airport, according to Reuters. - Mapbox

Emergency responders work at the scene following an explosion at a warehouse in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Thursday. - Uzbek Government/Reuters

Explosions continued to ring out in the hours after the blaze broke out, according to news agency AFP.

“I woke up at night. I thought it was an earthquake,” Moustafo Kutepov, a 72-year-old retiree who lives nearby and whose house was affected, told AFP. “Then I saw the fire. My son was injured in the leg.”

More than 2,000 fire and rescue service personnel were involved in extinguishing the fire, according to authorities.

Flights appeared to continue to depart and arrive from Tashkent’s international airport overnight and into Thursday morning local time, according to data from Flightradar24.

With nearly 3 million residents, Tashkent is the largest city in the Central Asian, former Soviet state.

CNN’s Anna Chernova contributed to this report.

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