Today the Yangihayot District Criminal Court in Tashkent will begin hearing a criminal case against former Deputy Interior Minister Bekmurod Abdullaev, former chief of the Department for the Execution of Punishments Rustam Tursunov, and 28 other defendants.
The case is listed on the Supreme Court's website, with Sanjar Makhametov presiding as judge.
According to the court docket, Bekmurod Abdullaev is charged under clauses "a" and "b" of Part 2, as well as several clauses of Part 3, of Article 167 of the Criminal Code (Theft through misappropriation or embezzlement).
Rustam Tursunov faces charges under clauses "a" and "b" of Part 2 and clauses "a" and "c" of Part 3 of Article 167 (theft through misappropriation or embezzlement), as well as clauses "a" and "b" of Part 2 of Article 205 (abuse of power or official authority).
In total, 30 people are named as defendants. Others include Farrukh Abdurakhimov, chairman of the board of the state leasing company Qurilishmashlizing; Farkhodjon Zhuraev, former chief of the Namangan-based enterprise Mexmash; and Dilshod Tashev, whom open commercial databases link to the leadership of Correctional Colony No. 11 in the Navoi province.
Ikhtiyor Malikov previously appeared as the responsible official and secretary of the procurement commission in tenders for the purchase of road-marking machinery, interactive equipment, and other procurements.
In addition to Articles 167 and 205, some defendants also face charges of Зseudo-entrepreneurship (Article 179), Еax evasion or evasion of other mandatory payments (Article 184), Мiolation of trade or service rules (Article 189), Ўfficial forgery (Article 209), and Дegalization of proceeds from criminal activity (Article 243). Some defendants, for instance, are charged under as many as six articles of the Criminal Code simultaneously.
Bekmurod Abdullaev had served as Deputy Interior Minister and chief of the Department of Public Safety since April 2021. He was removed from his post on November 3, 2025. It later emerged that an investigation had been opened and that the former deputy minister had been taken into custody. He is the brother of businessman Bakhodir Abdullaev, founder of BA Holding and current chief of Uzmetkombinat.
Rustam Tursunov was in charge of the Jizzakh province police department from 2017 to 2018, after which he led the Navoi province police department. In February 2021, he was appointed chief of the Department for the Execution of Punishments and was removed from his post in early November 2025, the same time as Abdullaev.
At a meeting on January 27, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced that an embezzlement scheme involving 186 billion soums in budget funds had been uncovered in public procurement within the Interior Ministry system. According to the president, criminal cases were opened against Bekmurod Abdullaev and Rustam Tursunov.
It was previously reported that Bekmurod Abdullaev and six other officials were released from custody on the evening of April 15. According to Abdurakhmon Tashanov, director of the Ezgulik Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, their pretrial restriction was changed to bail after the general's relatives fully compensated the 186 billion soums in damages, in cash. Official agencies have not commented on this information, and the criminal case has not been closed.
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