Uzbekistan said Friday that it has jailed
the eldest daughter of late president Islam
Karimov, Gulnara Karimova — once a
prominent socialite, fashion designer and
singer — after charging her with massive
fraud and money laundering .
In a statement the Uzbekistan Prosecutor -
General ’s Office said that “ Gulnara
Karimova has been charged ” with crimes
including fraud, money laundering and
concealing foreign currency “ and she has
been held behind bars ”.
Karimova, 45 , is the eldest daughter of
the late authoritarian president of the
secretive ex -Soviet Central Asian state ,
who died following a reported stroke in
September last year .
She was once tipped to succeed her father
and was a high -profile figure , serving in
diplomatic posts including as ambassador
to Spain and Uzbekistan’ s permanent
representative to the United Nations in
Geneva .
She also organised a fashion week, had
her own jewellery line and released pop
singles under the name Googoosha as
well as running entertainment television
channels .
In a statement , the organised crime unit
of the Prosecutor -General ’ s Office said
she was a member of an organised
criminal group that controlled assets
worth more than $ 1 .3 billion in 12
countries .
It said these included London properties
worth £ 22 .9 million ( $29 .95 million ) and
hotels in Dubai worth $ 67. 4 million .
Among the long list of allegations against
Karimova are that she fraudulently
acquired assets worth $ 595 million and
received $869 .3 million in kickbacks that
were paid into offshore accounts.
She has been reportedly under house
arrest in the country since 2014 after
publicly feuding with her mother and her
younger sister Lola on Twitter. She did
not attend her father ’s funeral .
The statement by the Prosecutor -
General ’s office says that she was handed
a five-year non- custodial sentence, that
did not see her jailed, in 2015 .
In an interview with the BBC in
December, her London -based son Islam
Karimov Jr. , 23, called on authorities in
Uzbekistan to prove that his mother was
alive and well .
Karimova is also the subject of a multi -
year corruption probe targeting Western
telecoms firms that US and European
investigators say paid her billions of
dollars to secure access to the national
market.
Swiss prosecutors reportedly questioned
her in Tashkent in December, quashing
rumours of her possible death .
Source: punchng
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