Official detained in Fergana while receiving $50,000 bribe

A senior specialist at the Fergana Regional Department of Agriculture has been detained while attempting to sell part of land allocated for employing low-income and unemployed youth. The State Security Service reported the incident.

According to the report, a previously convicted individual born in 1984 and residing in Bagdad district of Fergana Region offered assistance to a local entrepreneur in obtaining land for the construction of multi-storey residential buildings through his connections with officials.

Specifically, the suspect demanded $400,000 in exchange for changing the designated use of five hectares of a 29-hectare land plot. The land had originally been allocated in 2020 to another citizen for establishing a greenhouse project aimed at providing employment for low-income and unemployed youth.

During a joint operation conducted by the State Security Service, the Department for Combating Economic Crimes, and the Internal Affairs Directorate, the suspect was detained while receiving an advance payment of $50,000. The cash was seized as physical evidence.

The operation was subsequently extended, resulting in the detention of the suspect’s official accomplice — a senior specialist at the Fergana Regional Department of Agriculture — at the moment he received the same $50,000 bribe.

Criminal cases have been initiated against the suspects under Article 168, Part 4(a) (fraud) and Articles 28 and 211, Part 3(a) (bribery) of the Criminal Code. A pre-trial detention measure has been applied.

Investigative actions are currently underway.

Earlier, an assistant to the hokim in one of the mahalla citizens’ assemblies in Pop district of Namangan Region was detained while receiving a $1,000 bribe.