A judge and a bank official caught taking bribes in Sirdaryo province have been sentenced. 39-year-old E.S. who served as a judge in the economic affairs division of the Sirdaryo Provincial Court, while 40-year-old D.T. worked as deputy branch manager at Agrobank's Guliston branch. The two defendants had known each other beforehand.
The director of a local limited liability company (LLC), unhappy with a ruling by the Guliston Interdistrict Economic Court ordering the demolition of a bus station building, filed a cassation appeal with the economic affairs panel of the Sirdaryo Provincial Court. D.T. happened to know the director of that company.
This is how the judge and the bank official conspired: D.T. convinced the LLC director that the hearing kept being postponed because he hadn't paid, and told him the case could be resolved in his favor for $8,000. The judge, for his part, illegally postponed the hearing five times. D.T. then collected $2,000 from the LLC director on April 6, 2026.
The judge kept the scheme going, declaring an unwarranted recess in the hearing on April 9, 2026, because the full amount hadn't come through yet. On April 13, 2026, D.T. collected another $5,500 from the LLC director. E.S. immediately overturned the Guliston Interdistrict Economic Court's ruling ordering the demolition of the structure, deciding the case in the company's favor. The two then split the $7,500 they had collected between themselves.
Following a complaint from the LLC director, a sting operation was carried out, during which $3,600 was seized from E.S. and $3,900 from D.T. as physical evidence.
At the hearing, the judge partially admitted guilt, saying he had accepted the money not as a bribe but as a form of financial incentive.
"D.T. told me the director of the LLC was an acquaintance of his, that the first-instance ruling had been unlawful, and that the building hadn't been built without authorization. He asked for legal help with the matter. After that, I accepted the cassation appeal for review and scheduled a hearing.
"On April 13, 2026, I overturned the Guliston Interdistrict Economic Court's ruling and issued a new decision rejecting the plaintiff's claim. But the grounds cited in the cassation appeal weren't actually why I overturned the first-instance ruling.
"D.T. texted me saying he was near the courthouse. I met him behind the economic affairs building of the Sirdaryo Provincial Court. D.T. told me the company's director wanted to pass along his thanks, held up four fingers and handed me the money. I didn't realize at the time it was $4,000. I gave D.T. $400 of it and told him to get himself some tea.
"I took the money as a token of gratitude, not as a bribe," E.S. said in his testimony.
The former judge argued that his actions showed no signs of extortion and asked that his case be requalified under Part 1 of Article 168 of the Criminal Code (fraud), with a sentence that would not involve imprisonment.
D.T. also partially admitted guilt, stating that the offer to pay had come from the LLC director himself.
Under a verdict from the criminal panel of the Jizzakh Provincial Court, E.S. was found guilty under Part 2, clause "c" of Article 210 of the Criminal Code (Bribe-taking), while D.T. was found guilty of the same offense as an accomplice under Article 28 in conjunction with Part 2, clause "c" of Article 210.
E.S. was sentenced to six years in prison and barred for three years from working in the judiciary or law enforcement. D.T. was sentenced to five and a half years in prison and barred for three years from working in the banking sector or at state-owned enterprises, institutions and organizations.
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