A provincial court on Monday suspended the eight-year prison sentence of Odilkhon Ismoilov, founder of the Rayhon cafe chain and a former imam-khatib at mosques in Tashkent, and released him from custody, the press service of courts in Namangan province said.

The Namangan Provincial Court ruled on appeal that Ismoilov’s sentence be treated as suspended, with three years’ probation. He was freed in the courtroom after the ruling was read out.

The Pop District Criminal Court sentenced Ismoilov on July 13 for embezzlement on a large scale. The appeals court upheld that sentence but suspended it under Article 72 of the Criminal Code.

The court said it took into account that part of the damage had been paid in cash into a deposit account. It added that property belonging to Ismoilov and his close relatives is being used to cover the losses. Seized property is to be sold to compensate the damage, and some assets are to be transferred to a bank’s balance at its request.

The court’s statement does not disclose the amount of damages repaid or say what decisions were made on the other six convicts.

Ismoilov and six other defendants were convicted on July 13 under several articles of the Criminal Code covering embezzlement, official forgery, seizure or destruction of documents and the use of forged documents. His final term, after detention time was counted, was seven years, 11 months and 28 days.

He and several others were detained in January 2026 on charges including sham entrepreneurship, tax evasion and violations of trade rules.

Before going into business, Ismoilov was deputy chief imam-khatib of Tashkent from 2010 and chief imam-khatib of Shaykhantakhur district from 2011 to July 2018.