Corruption - The Times Of Central Asia

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Uzbekistan Hosts IV Tashkent Anti-Corruption Forum

On October 17, 2024, Uzbekistan hosted the IV Tashkent Anti-Corruption Forum, gathering over 250 participants, including officials, international experts, and representatives from civil society. The event was organized by Uzbekistan's Anti-Corruption Agency and partners including the European Union, GIZ (German International Cooperation), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The forum highlighted Uzbekistan’s progress in fighting corruption and improving its position in key international rankings, such as Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. Uzbekistan’s successful completion of the OECD’s 2023 anti-corruption evaluation, scoring over 86 points, making it the highest ranked country in Central Asia, was also praised. Key achievements include implementing a national anti-corruption program, creating a long-term strategy for 2030, and actively involving civil society in the fight against corruption. At the forum, a major milestone was the signing of an agreement between Uzbekistan’s Anti-Corruption Agency and the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency to work together on training, projects, and research to combat corruption. The forum also featured discussions on using new technologies to prevent corruption, building a culture to resolve social conflicts, and addressing conflicts of interest through compliance systems.

Investment Projects Business Ethics Corruption

Kyrgyz President Applauds Son’s Golf Project Despite Questions

Kyrgyzstan is building the biggest golf course in Central Asia, President Sadyr Japarov says. The man building the golf course? Japarov’s son, Rustam. Japarov has often said that his friends and family won’t get involved in politics and government, though some media reports and critics say that he hasn’t kept his word in a country where corruption has been a longstanding concern. In an interview this week with the state-run Kabar news agency, the president stuck to his position that family members won’t get mixed up in state affairs. “I always tell them not to do business with the state. We must learn from the past,” said Japarov, who has previously said that critical media coverage of his government amounted to slander and trafficking in rumors. “Rustam is busy attracting investors. He is building a golf course in Issyk-Kul. God willing, we plan to open it next year,” said Japarov, who didn’t offer details about the project other than that “it will be the largest golf course in Central Asia.” The president also praised his son for a project that he started last year to build a football field with lighting in every village in the country. The area around Lake Issyk-Kul, where the golf course is being built, is one of Kyrgyzstan’s main tourist sites. Its attractions include beaches, hiking and ancient petroglyphs showing deer, leopards and hunting scenes. There are restaurants, wellness centers and conference facilities catering to international delegations. Telegram founder Pavel Durov was spotted there earlier this year. Japarov’s son, Rustam, drew attention in 2022 when a photo circulating on social media appeared to show him with leaders at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security group, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. At the time, the 24.kg news service questioned why he was there since he didn’t hold any government position and wasn’t part of the official Kyrgyz delegation. In June, President Japarov apologized when news emerged that the fiancé of his niece had proposed marriage after the pair traveled on a rented government helicopter to the mountains near Bishkek. The scandal got worse when the fiancé, Aftandil Sabyrbekov, was arrested on drug charges. In the Kabar interview that was published on Wednesday, Japarov also disputed any suggestion that the involvement of Taimuras Tashiev, son of a high-ranking government official, in a road project in the town of Özgön was inappropriate. Tashiev’s father is Kamchybek Tashiev, chairman of the State Committee for National Security. “Why not say thanks to Taimuras,” said the president, who regularly gives interviews to state-run Kabar while some more critical media have faced state prosecutions. “Would Taimuras introduce the company he founded if it would harm the state?”

NYC Mayor USA Crime Corruption

Uzbekistan Implicated in U.S. Investigation of NYC Mayor Eric Adams

Uzbekistan has been implicated in a serious investigation into the sources of donations to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign. The investigation appears to be intensifying, a source said, after federal prosecutors issued subpoenas to his team members, including the mayor himself, in July. The US investigation into the mayor of New York spans six countries. It includes Adams’ ties to Turkey, Israel, Qatar, China, South Korea, and Uzbekistan. The big question investigators are trying to answer is whether his 2021 mayoral campaign conspired with Turkey’s government to receive illegal foreign donations, and whether the fire department was pressured to approve a new high-rise Turkish consulate despite safety concerns. Prosecutors seek additional information on Adams' relations with the other countries, including Uzbekistan – the only one of the six that Adams has not visited.

Corruption OSCE USAID International Cooperation Anti-Corruption

Turkmenistan Strengthens Anti-Corruption Mechanisms With Kazakh Experience

Turkmenistan is actively enhancing its anti-corruption framework by drawing on international expertise. A delegation of senior officials from key ministries recently visited Kazakhstan to learn from its financial practices. This visit, facilitated by the USAID "Governance in Turkmenistan" project with support from the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, aimed to explore best practices in financial monitoring, investigations, and the regulation of virtual assets at the Astana International Financial Center. Therein, Turkmen officials studied national risk assessments, inter-agency cooperation, and preventive measures against corruption, with a particular focus on asset recovery and identifying beneficial owners. The GAT project underlines Turkmenistan's stated commitment to fostering transparent, inclusive governance and advancing socioeconomic development.

Prosecutor Corruption Justice Crime Rule of law

Former Prosecutor General Beknazarov Detained in Kyrgyzstan

A former member of the Provisional Government and former Prosecutor General, Azimbek Beknazarov, has been detained in Kyrgyzstan. The State Committee for National Security (SCNS) said he is suspected of embezzling significant sums of money. The money in question was seized in April 2010 from bank boxes and the Government House during the revolutionary events. The investigation found that Beknazarov, then a member of the Provisional Government, was involved in the theft of these funds through the purchase of expensive real estate in Kyrgyzstan, including in Issyk-Kul, Bishkek, and the Chui and Jalal-Abad regions. “On September 12, 2024, A. Beknazarov was detained and placed in the temporary detention facility of the SIZO of the SCNS KR on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 222 part 3 p.3 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic (Legalization, laundering of criminal proceeds in large amounts),” the SCNS said in a statement. According to the investigation, the funds were allegedly seized from several bank boxes with the permission of the Bishkek prosecutor. At that time, $21 million belonged to President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's cronies. These funds were transferred to the National Bank for safekeeping. However, according to unconfirmed reports, the seized funds may have reached $100 million, which led to rumors that some money did not get into the vault. Azimbek Beknazarov is one of the key figures in Kyrgyz political life. He served as Prosecutor General and Deputy Prime Minister of Roza Otunbayeva's interim government from 2005 to 2010. Beknazarov was also actively involved in the coups d'état of 2005 and 2010, for which he was nicknamed “the bulldozer of revolutions.” The politician was also among the defendants in the “Kempir-Abad case”, in which he was acquitted in June 2024 with his associates.

Corruption Justice

Central Asian Police and Prosecutors Follow the Money

Gathering intelligence on money laundering and terrorist financing is just one step for authorities trying to crack down on those crimes. Transforming the intelligence into courtroom-ready evidence is just as vital. That challenge was the focus of a European Union-led workshop in Türkiye this week that drew more than 50 judicial and law enforcement officials, many of them from Central Asian countries. The prosecutors, police and financial intelligence experts discussed asset confiscation and forfeiture, mutual legal aid, open source intelligence and parallel financial investigations, which amount to following the money while separate criminal probes are underway. “The need to ensure the conversion of financial intelligence into admissible evidence in court is paramount, as it is the step that allows countries to prevent, detect and better prosecute criminals involved in financial crimes,” David Hotte, team leader at the EU Global Facility on money laundering and terrorism financing. The EU project and Türkiye´s financial intelligence unit, which is part of the Ministry of Finance, organized the workshop in Ankara, the Turkish capital. It ended Wednesday. The participants were from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Somalia. In recent years, Kazakh authorities have pursued an international campaign to recover assets that they say were stolen and moved abroad. Last month, Kazakh authorities said they had completed an investigation into the case of a nephew of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev and that the equivalent of $1.6 billion worth of assets had been returned to the state. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is also helping Central Asia with efforts against financial crimes. In April, it hosted a training session on money laundering for prosecutors, judges and financial investigators in Kyrgyzstan. Similar workshops have been held in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Some civil society groups in Central Asia say their governments could do a lot more to ensure budget transparency and curb violations of financial legislation. A 2023 index compiled by Transparency International ranks countries by perceived levels of public sector corruption – 0 is very corrupt and 100 is very clean. Kazakhstan scored 39, followed by Uzbekistan (33), Kyrgyzstan (26), Tajikistan (20) and Turkmenistan (18). The index scores are based on at least three “data sources” drawn from 13 different corruption studies and collected by institutions including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, according to Transparency International.