The Interior Ministry’s website says former director of the State Unitary Enterprise (SUE) “Sokhtmoni Manzili Dastras” (Affordable Housing) and director of Diyorsoz Limited Liability Company have been detained on suspicion of fraud.
They reportedly took 310,000 somoni from a resident of Dushanbe on January 25, 2018 and did not return the money to him.
The report does not give the first and last names of the detainees. Criminal proceedings have reportedly been instituted against them under the provisions of two articles of Tajikistan’s Penal Code: Article 247 – fraud; and Article 323 – official forgery. An investigation is under way.
Recall, shortcomings were revealed in activities of the SUE “Sokhtmoni Manzili Dastras” in August last year and the Dushanbe prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into the enterprise’s activities. The investigation has reportedly revealed that state funds allocated for the construction of apartment blocks were misused.
The head of the SUE “Sokhtmoni Manzili Dastras”, Nourullo Naimov, was sacked and Parviz Abdurahimzoda was appointed to head the facility.
Media reports said in later December 2018 that Nourullo Naimov has been detained on suspicion of a large-scale fraud.
Tajik chief prosecutor Yusuf Rahmon told reporters in Dushanbe on January 29 this year that four top managers of the SUE “Sokhtmoni Manzili Dastras” have been detained on suspicion of fraud.
The “Affordable Housing” project is an initiative, supported by the Dushanbe mayor’s office. This government’s project was launched in 2013 and was supposed to lead to the hard-up families moving into new homes by September 2015. But building work was serially delayed, causing alarm among hopeful homebuyers that had put down deposits.
According to some sources, the price for one square meter in the affordable apartment buildings will be 3,214 somoni (equivalent to 343 U.S. dollars).
