July 28, 2017 - 12:41 AMT
Uzbekistan jails ex-president's daughter for fraud, money laundering

Uzbekistan said Friday, July 28 that it has jailed the eldest daughter of late president Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova -- once a prominent socialite, fashion designer and singer -- after charging her with massive fraud and money laundering, AFP reports.

In a statement the Uzbekistan Prosecutor-General's Office said that "Gulnara Karimova has been charged" with crimes including fraud, money laundering and concealing foreign currency "and she has been held behind bars".

The statement also said she was a member of an organised criminal group that controlled assets worth more than $1.3 billion in 12 countries.

It said these included London properties worth £22.9 million ($29.95 million) and hotels in Dubai worth $67.4 million.

The statement also said that "investigative orders on the imposition of arrest on the above assets of an organized criminal group.

Karimova, 45, is the eldest daughter of the late authoritarian president of the secretive ex-Soviet Central Asian state, who died following a reported stroke in September last year.

She was once tipped to succeed her father and was a high-profile figure, serving in diplomatic posts including as ambassador to Spain and Uzbekistan's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

She also organised a fashion week, had her own jewellery line and released pop singles under the name Googoosha as well as running entertainment television channels.

Among the long list of allegations against Karimova are that she fraudulently acquired assets worth $595 million and received $869.3 million in kickbacks that were paid into offshore accounts.

She has been reportedly under house arrest in the country since 2014 after publicly feuding with her mother and her younger sister Lola on Twitter. She did not attend her father's funeral.