In Switzerland, a trial in absentia has started against the daughter of the former president of Uzbekistan. Gulnara Karimova is accused of creating a criminal organization, bribery, and money laundering. She is currently serving time in prison back home.
In Switzerland, a federal criminal trial began on Monday, April 27, in the city of Bellinzona against the daughter of the late former president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, Gulnara. The proceedings are expected to last until May 22, according to the Associated Press.
53-year-old Gulnara Karimova cannot attend the Swiss court as she is serving her sentence in a penal colony in her homeland. Gregoire Mangea, one of her lawyers, stated that he and his colleagues will seek "full and unconditional acquittal" for their client.
Charges against Karimova in Switzerland
The Swiss prosecutor's office brought charges against Karimova in the fall of 2023. It is alleged that she created and led a criminal group called "Office", which included several dozen people and numerous companies. The daughter of the former president of Uzbekistan is accused of placing "criminally obtained" funds in Switzerland and other countries amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as organizing the storage of cash, jewelry, and other valuables obtained illegally.
According to the investigation, a former CEO of the Uzbek branch of a Russian telecommunications company was involved in the "Office" operations. It is claimed that foreign organizations wishing to enter the telecommunications sector in Uzbekistan had to pay bribes to companies connected to Karimova. The indictment states that the organization operated in Switzerland since 2005, and Karimova was engaged in criminal activities at least until 2013.
In November 2024, the Swiss prosecutor's office also charged the Swiss private bank Lombard Odier and its former employee with having played a "decisive role in concealing income from the criminal activities of the 'Office'." The bank stated: the prosecution does not claim that Lombard Odier knowingly or intentionally engaged in money laundering, "but rather raises claims concerning alleged organizational deficiencies in measures to prevent such crimes, which the bank firmly disagrees with and will defend its position in court."
The daughter of the former president has been convicted in her homeland
In Uzbekistan, two criminal cases were opened against Karimova in 2013 - for embezzlement and tax evasion. In 2015, she received a five-year restriction of freedom for the first case, and in 2017, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the second case. Additionally, in March 2020, the Tashkent city court sentenced Gulnara Karimova to 13 years and 4 months in a penal colony for charges of conspiracy, extortion, embezzlement, robbery, money laundering, and other crimes.
The daughter of the former president initially served her sentence in penal colony No. 21 in the Zangiata district of Tashkent region. In January 2025, it became known that she was transferred to a settlement colony in the same region.
In September 2022, the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan reported that the assets of Karimova and her criminal group in Switzerland were estimated at $686 million, while in France, the USA, Latvia, and other countries, they held nearly $1.4 billion. In February 2025, it was announced that Switzerland would return $182 million to Uzbekistan, which "was illegally obtained by certain citizens of Uzbekistan and fully confiscated in 2012 by the Swiss Attorney General as part of the criminal case against Gulnara Karimova."