Switzerland indicts daughter of late Uzbek leader

GENEVA: Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan’s former president, was on Thursday indicted in Switzerland in a vast case of corruption, fraud and organised crime, prosecutors said.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) announced in a statement that following a lengthy criminal investigation, it had filed an indictment against Karimova along with an Uzbek telecoms executive.

“The two accused are in particular alleged to have participated in a criminal organisation that operated in various countries, including Switzerland,” the statement said.

The charges covered the period from 2005 to 2013 and revolved around “participation in a criminal organisation”, money laundering”, “acceptance of bribes as foreign public officials”, and “forgery of documents”. The indictment was filed in Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court. The OAG maintains that Karimova, daughter of the late Islam Karimov, had from 2001 to 2013 created and run a criminal organisation known as “The Office”, comprising several dozen people and a large number of companies.

The organisation began its operations in Switzerland in 2005 “to conceal the capital originating from its criminal dealings in Swiss bank accounts and safes and by purchasing real estate”, the statement said.