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In Tashkent, law enforcement officers have detained a group of fraudsters who were deceiving clients buying apartments in new buildings. The criminals opened a company and actively advertised their services for purchasing apartments in installments on the internet. Clients only needed to pay 25% of the apartment’s cost, and the rest was supposedly covered by the company. However, in reality, things turned out to be very different – the buyers sent money to the fraudsters, who had no intention of buying any apartments.
One of the victims, Lola (name changed), frequently browsed advertisements for apartments in buildings under construction in various districts of the capital. Buying a new apartment had long been her dream, but she lacked the necessary funds to make it come true.
One day, while scrolling through the news feed on the internet, she came across an advertisement with a very enticing offer. It stated that the company would take on the obligation of purchasing the property the client wanted. Initially, the client was required to transfer only 25% of the apartment’s cost to their account and 4% for their services, after which the keys to the purchased property would be handed over to the client within two weeks, and a loan at 12% per annum would be arranged in one of the banks, with the property put up as collateral.
After a short deliberation, Lola decisively dialed the given number. The man on the phone explained the terms of the apartment purchase and asked her to come to the office for more detailed information or to read the reviews on their website from people they had helped with buying a property.
The next day, still under the impression of the conversation, Lola headed to the given address in one of the central districts of the capital. A concise sign with an elegant design gave the impression that promises here were not made lightly. The office, located on the ground floor, exuded an atmosphere of complete comfort and coziness.
A receptionist girl approached Lola immediately and, learning the reason for her visit, directed her to one of the offices after making a call. Inside, she was greeted by two young men. After exchanging greetings, they invited her to sit in a chair and introduced themselves: one was named Niyoz, and the other Shukhrat.
Niyoz explained the terms of the deal in detail, mentioning that the risk was practically nil. To confirm his words, he pointed to a stack of documents with contracts, calling them eloquent proof of their integrity in dealing with clients.
Shukhrat nodded his head the entire time, as if confirming Niyoz’s words. Several times the conversation was interrupted by calls to Shukhrat’s phone. Apologizing in advance and not leaving the room, Shukhrat answered the calls and gave instructions to the callers about handing over keys and documents to the next client.
Lola’s doubts finally dissipated, and she named the address where the apartment she wanted to buy was located and stated its cost. A contract was immediately drawn up and signed, according to which Lola was obliged to transfer the funds to the company’s account within three working days in the amount of 25% of the apartment’s cost and 4% for the service, which she did.
All that remained was to wait for the keys to the property and the loan to be arranged at the bank. But due to some unforeseen various circumstances, which were each time explained by Niyoz and Bahodir, this event was postponed each time to a new date. After a certain period, Lola was forced to file a complaint with law enforcement.
During the investigation, the woman learned that she was not the only one caught in the fraudsters’ trap. Five people were recognized as victims in the criminal case, and the same scheme was used on each of them. They were all deceived in the same manner. The total damage amounted to 1.3 billion soms. The money obtained in this way was spent by the fraudsters on their own needs.
By the verdict of the Yakkasaray District Criminal Court, 38-year-old Bahodir, 30-year-old Shukhrat, and 26-year-old Niyoz were found guilty of committing the crime provided for by Article 168 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code. They were all sentenced to imprisonment: Bahodir – for 8 years 6 months, Shukhrat – for 8 years 3 months, and Niyoz – for 8 years 1 month.
The text has been translated by AI. For more accurate information, please refer to the Russian version of the article.
