1.4 billion soums embezzled in Tashkent via 3,363 fake receipts...

A case involving the illegal acquisition of 1.4 billion soums from the state budget through fake purchase receipts has been uncovered in the Mirzo Ulugbek district of Tashkent. According to pre-investigation data, officials from three enterprises falsified records claiming that hundreds of billions of soums worth of products had been delivered.

A criminal case has been initiated regarding the incident. Currently, the actions of the suspects, the subsequent flow of funds, and the methods used to process the fake receipts are being investigated.

322.4 billion soums in fake sales reported

The pre-investigation was conducted jointly by the Mirzo Ulugbek district department of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Tax Committee.

According to preliminary information, the responsible persons of E.P., M.M., and E.S. LLCs conspired to forge documents claiming that a total of 322.4 billion soums worth of products had been delivered.

The details regarding whether the products were actually delivered or if any real sales took place will be clarified during the investigation.

3,363 fake purchase receipts generated

The investigation revealed that 3,363 purchase receipts were issued in the names of citizens, falsely representing that sales had been conducted through cash registers.

These receipts were registered in the Soliq Mobile application on behalf of citizens included in the social protection registry.

According to the investigation, "cashback" was paid out from the state budget based on these fake receipts, resulting in the embezzlement of a total of 1.4 billion soums.

How were citizens' data used?

As part of the case, authorities are expected to investigate how the data of citizens in the social protection registry was obtained and whether those individuals were aware that fake receipts were being issued in their names.

Furthermore, identifying whose bank accounts received the "cashback" funds and where those funds were subsequently transferred will be a key focus of the investigation.

Criminal case opened under two articles

A criminal case has been initiated regarding this incident under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan:

• Article 167 — Embezzlement or misappropriation;

• Article 228 — Forgery of documents and their use.

Investigative actions are currently ongoing. The guilt of all individuals will be confirmed by a legally binding court verdict.

Another major case in the "cashback" system

Schemes to obtain budget funds through fake receipts highlight the need to strengthen digital control systems. In particular, it is crucial to automatically flag numerous receipts issued to a single person, large turnovers that do not correspond to real sales, and suspicious "cashback" operations.

In this Mirzo Ulugbek district case, it is reported that 1.4 billion soums of budget funds were obtained through 3,363 receipts. The investigation must now determine the full chain of fake transactions and the circle of individuals involved.