Former government employee sentenced for embezzling nearly 1 billion UZS to gamble online

According to court documents, M.B. worked as a deposit specialist in the BCE's Shaykhontohur and Yunusabad district branches between December 2022 and July 2023. His scheme began in March 2023, when he transferred 46 million UZS, which was supposed to be returned to a debtor, to his nephew's bank card. From July to December 2023, M.B. continued to embezzle larger amounts, transferring nearly 933 million UZS from the Yunusabad branch deposit account to various personal accounts, including those of relatives.

In his testimony, M.B. confessed to the crime and alleged that the head of the Yunusabad district division, H.T., was aware of the embezzlement. M.B. claimed to have given 200 million UZS of the stolen funds to H.T. as part of an agreement between them. The rest, M.B. admitted, was used in online gambling.

However, during the trial, H.T. denied any involvement, stating that he had no knowledge of M.B.'s actions and never received any money from him. H.T. claimed that he became aware of the financial irregularities only after an audit conducted by the Tashkent City Bureau's document verification department. He further stated that upon discovering the issue, he reported it to the authorities.

The court found M.B. guilty under Articles 167 (embezzlement or misappropriation) and 209 (forgery) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan and sentenced him to 6.5 years in prison. In addition to the prison term, M.B. was ordered to repay 832 million UZS in damages to the Yunusabad district branch of the BCE.

Furthermore, 100 million UZS previously deposited with the Tashkent City Prosecutor's Office was transferred to the BCE's Yunusabad division to partially cover the financial losses.