The funds of Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the first President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, worth about $131 million are ready to be returned to the country from Switzerland through a UN multilateral trust fund, the Uzbek Ministry of Justice reported on Tuesday
TASHKENT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2022) The funds of Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the first President of Uzbekistan, islam Karimov, worth about $131 million are ready to be returned to the country from Switzerland through a UN multilateral trust fund, the Uzbek Ministry of Justice reported on Tuesday.
"On February 11, 2022, Switzerland and Uzbekistan held a round of negotiations, during which both delegations agreed in principle to create a new United Nations multilateral trust fund. The fund will be used to return assets that were finally confiscated as part of criminal proceedings. Currently, about 131 million US Dollars are ready for return," the ministry said in a statement.
The fund will begin operations once both sides sign a legally binding restitution agreement, the statement read, adding that Uzbekistan is also cooperating with Russia, the US, France, and other countries on the return of illegally withdrawn assets obtained by Karimova and her accomplices. In particular, a sum of $10 million was returned to Uzbekistan from France, the ministry noted.
Since 2015, Karimova was convicted under several criminal cases on charges including extortion and tax evasion. On March 18, 2020, a Tashkent court sentenced her to an additional 13 years and four months in yet another criminal case on charges of establishing a criminal organization, extortion, and money laundering.
