Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — In Khanabad, Andijan region, a deputy khokim of the city, together with a previously convicted head of an LLC engaged in alcohol sales, conspired to illegally auction off 4 hectares of land from the khokimiyat reserve. The plot was presented as being allocated to a local entrepreneur for the creation of a factory producing mattresses, profiled sheeting, and baby diapers.

The land was sold at auction for 2 billion soums and subsequently registered under the entrepreneur’s name in exchange for a bribe of US$20,000. The individuals involved were detained with physical evidence of the crime.

In a separate case, the former deputy khokim of Andijan district, the head of the city’s statistics department, and two other individuals, acting in collusion, demanded US$600,000 from an entrepreneur seeking to establish a factory for children's products. In return, they promised to assist with acquiring 6 hectares of land in the “Ipak Yo‘li” Free Economic Zone through auction. The suspects were caught red-handed while receiving an advance payment of US$150,000 US. It was also revealed that a former first deputy head of the Andijan regional department of the Committee for the Development of Competition and Consumer Protection — currently leading a private employment agency — was involved in the scheme and had earlier received US$11,000 to facilitate the entrepreneur’s request.

In another incident in Tashkent region, the head of the Off-Budget Pension Fund branch under the Ministry of Economy and Finance for Ohangaron district was detained while accepting a US$1,500 bribe in exchange for restoring a lost employment record book and processing the individual’s application for an age-related pension. Notably, this official had previously been convicted under Article 167 of the Criminal Code but evidently failed to learn from past misconduct.

Criminal cases have been initiated in connection with all these incidents. The suspects have been placed in pretrial detention, and investigative actions are ongoing.