The daughter of Uzbekistan’s former president has been indicted on charges including money laundering and bribery after being accused of running a huge multi-million dollar crime network known as “The Office”.
Gulnara Karimova – daughter of the late Islam Karimov, premier of Uzbekistan from 1991 until his death in 2016 – allegedly led the “elaborate” operation which funnelled bribes from telecom companies using “violence and intimidation”, according to Swiss prosecutors.
Karimova, who formerly represented Uzbekistan at the United Nations in Geneva, “exploited her dual status as the daughter of the president and as an Uzbek public official” to influence foreign firms that wished to operate in her country’s telecoms sector, the indictment alleges.
Funds were channelled through bank accounts in several countries before being transferred to Swiss accounts, it is claimed.
Owners of some of the accounts were “straw men” created to cover up the fact that Karimova was the true beneficiary, the Office of the Attorney General in Switzerland has 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,” prosecutors said in a statement.
Karimova, 51, has contested the charges and has vowed to fight for her acquittal, her lawyer Gregoire Mangeat said.
“The criminal organisation theory is totally disputed”, he added.
Officials have frozen 440 million Swiss francs (£394m) as part of the investigation.
More than 340 million Swiss francs (£301m) have already been confiscated with a view to return the money to Uzbekistan.
Karimova has been indicted alongside the former director general of the Uzbek subsidiary of a Russian telecommunications company, who has not been named, over the alleged wrongdoing said to have taken place from “at least” 2001 until 2013.
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Karimova was once a successful businesswoman and respected fashion designer who presented a collection at China Fashion Week in 2012.
She has faced a series of trials for alleged fraud and corruption after first being convicted in Uzbekistan eight years ago.
She was initially ordered to serve her sentence under house arrest at her daughter’s home, but was jailed in 2019 for violating the terms of her confinement. She is currently serving a 13-year term for organising a criminal group, extortion and embezzlement.
