Large-Scale South Korea Employment Scams Uncovered in Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Large-scale, molecularly organized fraudulent schemes involving unlawful promises to assist citizens in securing employment in the Republic of Korea have been uncovered in the Khorezm region and several other regions of the republic.

During operational search and pre-trial investigation activities carried out by officers of the regional divisions of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the General Prosecutor's Office of Uzbekistan, suspects who swindled large sums of money from unsuspecting job seekers were detained.

One of the main episodes of criminal activity was recorded in the Hazarasp district. Officers of the district department established that a citizen, identified as D.M., acting in conspiracy with a group of individuals, gained the trust of citizens B.Y. and Sh.U.

The perpetrators promised them official employment in South Korea, citing alleged connections with acquaintances working at the Agency for Foreign Labor Migration. For their services, the suspects received US$15,500 from the victims. During procedural actions, law enforcement officers managed to quickly secure the return of a portion of the stolen funds amounting to US$1,500.

However, a further in-depth investigation revealed that the activity of this group was serial in nature: D.M. and his accomplices used similar fraudulent methods to swindle an additional US$159,500 from 17 other citizens. For this money, the scammers guaranteed that the individuals would successfully pass specialized language and qualification exams, which are mandatory prerequisites for obtaining a work visa.

In a parallel operation, department officials documented another similar criminal case. A citizen, identified as Kh.Kh., fraudulently seized funds amounting to US$10,000 from citizen K.A. This suspect also made deliberately false promises to provide direct assistance in successfully passing examination tests for subsequent travel to work in South Korea.

In this instance, a voluntary return of the entire illegally obtained sum was arranged during the investigative measures, and US$10,000 was seized in accordance with established procedural rules.

Criminal cases have been officially initiated against the suspects under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan for all uncovered offenses, and a comprehensive set of investigative actions is underway to identify all individuals involved.