QURGHON TEPPA, November 15, 2008, Asia-Plus — The Khatlon regional prosecutor’s office has instituted criminal proceedings against Ms. Savzagul Almatova, resident of Khatlon’s Vakhsh district, who is suspected of fraud.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Bahrom Shomirov, a chief investigator with the Khatlon regional prosecutor’s office, said that Almatova now owes 628,000 US dollars to 141 people.
“Since 2005, representing herself as bank employee, Almatova has collected totaling 559,550 US dollars and 232,100 somoni from 141 residents of the Vakhsh district under 5 and 8 percent annual interest and has not yet returned them,” the investigation said.
Besides, she took housing documents of several local residents and left them in Agroinvestbonk’s branch in Vakhsh as security for loans.
Formal charges were brought against Almatova on October 9 already and criminal proceedings were instituted under the provisions of five articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – Article 246 (embezzlement of loans), Article 253 (causing property damage by deception or abuse of confidence), Article 259 (illegal entrepreneurship), Article 260 (false entrepreneurship), and Article 286 (illegal currency transaction).
Shomirov added that the mentioned amounts (559,550 US dollars and 232,100 somoni) were not final because “the prosecutor’s office has still been receiving applications from the fraud victims.”
