Freedom for sale: Lawyer and bank legal adviser detained for fraud in Tashkent

Two individuals have been detained for promising to reduce a prison sentence to four years in exchange for $20,000 by leveraging connections in the prosecutor’s office.

A lawyer from one of the capital's firms approached a 24-year-old convict, offering to secure a favorable ruling from the cassation instance of the city court through his connections with officials.

The case concerned the review of a 2024 verdict issued by the Yashnabad district court of Tashkent, which had sentenced the defendant to 10 years in prison. The lawyer promised to reduce the sentence to four years in exchange for $20,000 — charging $5,000 for each year of the reduced term.

While receiving the full payment, the lawyer was apprehended by law enforcement officers with evidence in hand.

During the operation, a legal adviser from a capital city bank was also detained. The adviser had received $15,000 from the lawyer and planned to use his relative’s connections in the Prosecutor’s Office to influence the court’s decision.

A criminal case has been opened under Part 4 of Article 168 (Fraud) and Part 3 of Article 211 (Bribery) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, and the investigation is ongoing.