Uzbekistan’s Ex-Leader’s Daughter Ran Crime Network, Swiss Say

• Gulnara Karimova was accused of leading a money-laundering network from 2005 to 2013.
• Assets worth SFr 780 million were seized; she denies bribery charges tied to telecom contracts.
• Karimova, once influential in Uzbekistan, had various businesses and a pop music career.

Swiss prosecutors have officially accused Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan’s former president, of orchestrating an international criminal network responsible for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes.

This operation is said to have spanned the years 2005 to 2013, during which authorities seized assets totaling SFr 780 million (equivalent to £700 million or $857 million).

Karimova, who has been incarcerated in Uzbekistan since 2014 on embezzlement charges, vehemently denies the allegations related to bribery, primarily involving valuable telecommunications contracts.

In the past, she held a prominent position in the Central Asian ex-Soviet nation, leveraging her status as the daughter of the autocratic leader, Islam Karimov, known for his harsh suppression of opposition.

Karimova was known for her various enterprises, including a jewelry line, ownership of an entertainment television channel, and even a foray into pop music under the pseudonym Googoosha.

The Swiss indictment also implicates an unnamed entrepreneur who managed the Uzbek division of a Russian telecommunications company.

Karimova is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for facilitating access to Uzbekistan’s telecom sector and then laundering the illicit funds through Swiss bank accounts and an intricate network of accounts in different countries.

This fictitious operation was codenamed “The Office” and is alleged to have employed not only fraudulent tactics but also violence and intimidation.

In August, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) seized three luxurious properties, valued at over £20 million, owned by Karimova.

The Swiss federal prosecutors’ indictment reveals that the listed beneficiaries of these accounts were mere proxies, concealing Karimova’s actual ownership.

While she once enjoyed diplomatic immunity as Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, this protection was revoked in 2013. Subsequently, Switzerland expanded its investigation into her financial activities.

Karimova’s organization also faced criminal inquiries in Sweden, France, Norway, the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

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