Official accused of embezzling nearly half a billion somoni

Misappropriation of budget funds by the head of the Land Reclamation and Irrigation Department of the Sughd Region

The Agency for State Financial Control and the Fight Against Corruption of Tajikistan has completed the investigation of a criminal case against the head of the Land Reclamation and Irrigation Department of the Sughd Region, Abdullozoda A.

According to the investigation, while holding the position of head of the department, he committed crimes related to the embezzlement of more than 4.3 million somoni during his tenure.

Specifically, Abdullozoda A. “set himself the goal of embezzling budget funds through misappropriation, acting on the basis of a preliminary conspiracy with the leading specialist of the department, Barotov R.J., citizen Rakhmatulloev D.D., and 5 heads of private companies, from the amount of 13,117,560 somoni allocated for the period 2023-2024 from the budget for improving the reclamation state of irrigated agricultural lands and repairing pumping stations in the districts of Zafarabad, Asht, Spitamen, and Mastchoh of the Sughd Region,” the anti-corruption agency’s statement noted.

Employees of the anti-corruption agency established that they, by forging accounting documents, misappropriated a total of 4,386,258 somoni, thereby causing particularly large material damage to the state.

A criminal case has been initiated against Abdullozoda A. and other individuals under paragraph “b” of part 4 of article 245 (Misappropriation and embezzlement in especially large amounts) and paragraphs “a, b” of part 2 of article 340 (Forgery of documents repeatedly and by a group of persons by prior conspiracy) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The statement notes that the identified damage has been fully compensated to the state. The criminal case has been sent to court for consideration after the investigation was completed.

The accused face a penalty of a fine ranging from 109,275 to 205,200 somoni or imprisonment for a term of 8 to 15 years for the cumulative crimes.

Despite the severity of the charges and the high positions held by the detainees, the accused, their lawyers, or close relatives have not commented on the matter. For this reason, it is currently impossible to confirm or deny the accusations of the anti-corruption agency based on other sources.

At the same time, almost all heads of state bodies and members of the government of Emomali Rahmon are members of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan. However, when they are detained on charges of serious crimes, embezzlement of money, property, or other state property, unlike members and supporters of other parties in the country, information about their party affiliation is not officially disclosed.

In Tajikistan, corruption has become a systemic phenomenon and has taken root in almost all government structures. While the average bribe among teachers and healthcare workers is around 50–60 somoni, among law enforcement and financial institution employees, this figure reaches tens of thousands of somoni. However, it should be noted that the scale of corruption, as well as embezzlement from the state budget among heads of government agencies, as claimed by the anti-corruption agency, reaches millions of somoni.

At the center of this system are Emomali Rahmon and his family, who have held power for more than three decades, controlling the distribution and oversight of national wealth. Relatives of the president, including his children, sons-in-law, and other close relatives, head key sectors, making it impossible to prevent the spread of any form of corruption and abuse of power.