Former State Assets Agency Chief's Case Sent to Court

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The criminal case against former Director of Uzbekistan's State Assets Management Agency Akmalkhon Ortikov has been referred to the Mirabad District Criminal Court for trial.

According to the court's schedule of hearings, the first court session was set for 20 July.

Ortikov has been charged under several articles of the Criminal Code, including embezzlement through misappropriation or theft on an especially large scale by an organised group or in its interests using computer technology, abuse of official authority causing especially large-scale damage, and official forgery.

The most severe charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Also standing trial are Ziyoviddin Jabbarov, head of Smart Expert Group; Zuhriddin Nigmankhanov, founder and head of the appraisal company Veritas; Ravshan Khalitkariev, founder of the appraisal company Master Expert; Saidjon Saidov; and Shermatjon Jurayev, head of the appraisal company Kontinent Imkon Baho.

According to the court, all five have also been charged with embezzlement through misappropriation or theft and official forgery. In addition, Jabbarov, Khalitkariev and Jurayev are charged with abuse of authority by officials of a non-state commercial or other non-state organisation.

The claimant in the case is Timur Alibekov, head of the Internal Audit Service Department of the State Assets Management Agency. The case will be heard by Judge Hasan Ochilov.

Ortikov was dismissed as director of the State Assets Management Agency in January 2026.

At the time, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said investigations had uncovered theft involving billions of soums. According to the president, agency officials had put up for a closed auction a land plot with a market value of at least 250 billion soums and sold it for 120 billion soums.

Following the allegations, the former agency chief was placed in pre-trial detention. The president also instructed State Security Service Chairman Bahodir Kurbanov to consider the responsibility of officials overseeing the activities of the State Assets Management Agency and Uzbekneftegaz.