Uzbekistan: France Transferred $10 Million Of Karimova’s Assets

TASHKENT — Uzbekistan says it has received from France assets worth $10 million illegally acquired by Gulnara Karimova, the imprisoned elder daughter of late President Islam Karimov.

The assets were transferred to Uzbekistan’s state coffers on May 14, the Justice Ministry said.

The statement did not provide further details on the assets, which represent a fraction of the more than $1 billion Tashkent has sought from foreign jurisdictions since announcing Karimova’s imprisonment in 2017.

Karimova, once seen as a possible successor to he father, was placed under house arrest in Tashkent in 2014 while her father was still alive and running the country. Karimov died in 2016 and Shavkat Mirziyoev succeeded soon afterward.

In December 2017, Karimova was sentenced to a 10-year prison term, but the sentence was later reclassified to house arrest and shortened to five years. She was placed in jail in March 2019 for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest.

In March of this year, Karimova received an additional 13 years and four months in prison after being found guilty of extortion, money laundering, and other crimes.

Criminal investigations in Switzerland, the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands have linked Karimova to a massive, years-long bribery scheme that revolved mainly around foreign telecommunications companies gaining access to the lucrative Uzbek market.