July 7, 2016
Dutch prosecutors on Wednesday asked judges to seize more than 300 million euros in assets belonging to a Netherlands-based front company they say was used to bribe Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan’s president. Prosecutors asked the Amsterdam court to confiscate 300 million euros and impose a fine of nearly 5 million euros. They also called on the court to seize a 6 percent stake held by the front company, Takilant, in Ucell, the Uzbek subsidiary of Nordic telecoms operator Telia Company AB.
“The bribes were paid in exchange for entry into the Uzbek telecommunications market,” prosecutors said in a statement. “The beneficiary of the money was the daughter of the Uzbek president.” Takilant was owned by Karimova, they said. Dutch prosecutors targeted Takilant, not Karimova personally, because of jurisdiction limits, a spokeswoman said. VimpelCom and TeliaSonera have headquarters in the Netherlands and could therefore be prosecuted under anti-corruption laws.
