Interior Ministry officer detained with $30,000 in Khorezm (video)

Individuals attempting to illegally sell land plots have been detained in Khorezm and Fergana regions, according to the State Security Service.

It was reported that a senior operative of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Khorezm Regional Department of Internal Affairs was detained in Khiva while receiving $30,000 from a citizen. In exchange for the money, the officer had promised to secure permission, through his contacts among officials working in local authorities, to construct a residential building on a 12-sotix land plot originally allocated for agricultural use. The suspect was apprehended with material evidence during a joint operation carried out by the State Security Service, the Department for Combating Economic Crimes, and the Main Directorate for Internal Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

A criminal case has been initiated against him under Article 168, Part 4(a) (fraud), and Articles 28 and 211, Part 3(a) (bribery) of the Criminal Code. A preventive measure of detention has been applied.

In a separate incident in Fergana region, two individuals were detained for similar offenses. A resident of Buvayda district, born in 1998, conspired with an acquaintance born in 2006 to illegally sell land plots allocated by the state under preferential terms for agricultural use. The suspects demanded 115 million soums in exchange for registering a total of three hectares of land, allocated to them and 14 other young people, in the buyer’s name through intermediaries. They were detained while receiving $9,500 and 700,000 soums during a joint operation by the State Security Service and internal affairs bodies.

Criminal cases have been opened against the suspects under Articles 25 and 168, Part 2(a, b) (attempted fraud), and Article 229-6, Part 2(b) (illegal sale or unlawful transfer of rights to irrigated land or part thereof) of the Criminal Code. Investigative actions are currently underway.

It is worth recalling that earlier in Tashkent, a previously convicted lawyer affiliated with the Bar Association was detained for demanding a bribe through intermediaries in exchange for resolving issues related to the application of a detention measure.