Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The State Security Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan has uncovered illegal activities involving certain officials of the tax authorities as part of operational and investigative measures aimed at combating corruption and economic crimes.

According to official reports, tax service employees, motivated by personal gain, manipulated data within the electronic "Stability Rating" system. These fraudulent manipulations artificially improved the ratings of 18 business entities and removed their risk status, which in turn enabled the unlawful reimbursement of negative value-added tax (VAT) balances from the state budget, amounting to more than 82 billion Uzbek soums.

Based on these findings, the Investigation Department of the State Security Service has initiated a criminal case under Articles 167 (embezzlement through abuse of trust or fraud) and 209 (official forgery) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

One of the case episodes involves a limited liability company engaged in timber imports. Investigators found that 5.5 billion soums in VAT was illegally reimbursed to this company’s account. Six individuals have been brought into the investigation: two officials from the State Tax Committee, the company’s director and chief accountant, and two de facto managers. All six suspects have been remanded in custody as a preventive measure.

During the course of the investigation, including searches conducted at 16 locations linked to the suspects, authorities seized:

— US$79,000,
— 161 million soums,
— 3 LI 9 electric vehicles,
— 2 Gentra cars and 1 Nexia 3,
— 1,268 blocks of TEREA electronic cigarettes,
— 27 electronic keys,
— along with company seals, computers, and mobile phones used in the criminal activity.

The investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement agencies are examining whether other businesses may have been involved in the unlawful reimbursement of funds from the state budget.

The State Tax Committee reports that the violations were directly identified by its internal security division and uncovered in coordination with relevant law enforcement bodies.

Appropriate legal measures are being taken in response to the identified violations.