A court in Tashkent’s Chilanzar district has issued a verdict in a criminal case against individuals who deceived citizens with promises of job placements in European countries such as Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Croatia, as well as visa processing. The number of victims reached 140 people. The perpetrators, starting in January 2023, established several LLCs and disseminated advertisements through social media, claiming potential monthly salaries ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 euros or more.
Some citizens, trusting promises of overseas employment and document formalization, paid large sums of money. For instance, one victim reported paying a total of $5,000 for five individuals, while in other cases, amounts up to $3,500 were handed over. A victim stated in an interview: "We saw the ad on Instagram. There were five of us, each paid $1,000. We realized we were deceived after 6-7 months."
Another victim from Andijan region explained: "In the ads, artists and bloggers appeared, promising job placements abroad within three months. Believing these words, we paid $3,500 for my son and grandson. To gather this money, we sold all the property in our house." They saw no results and were unable to recover their funds.
During the trial, the defendants partially admitted guilt, expressed remorse, and promised to compensate for the damages incurred. One defendant claimed: "We provided services for tourist visas to Europe and Japan. The received funds were spent on workers' salaries and other expenses." Another defendant requested a punishment not involving imprisonment.
According to the court's ruling, two defendants were found guilty under Part 3, Clause "b" of Article 168 of the Criminal Code (fraud committed repeatedly or by a dangerous recidivist) and sentenced to 7 years in prison. An additional female defendant, who had been free until that point, received a 5-year prison sentence and was taken into custody in the courtroom. In line with a Cabinet of Ministers resolution from April 22, 2025, organized job placement activities for citizens abroad are handled by the Migration Agency, with the right to conduct such activities under license granted only to private employment agencies licensed by the Agency.
Source: www.gazeta.uz