Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — A senior inspector from the Cadastre Agency has been detained on suspicion of criminal activity after allegedly promising to secure land ownership through influential connections.

According to the State Security Service (SSS), in the city of Khiva, the head of a private horticulture enterprise demanded US$120,000 from a buyer in exchange for facilitating the ownership registration of a land plot via his contacts among government officials. He further requested an additional US$60,000 to obtain a construction permit for a multi-apartment residential building on 80 sotok (0.8 hectares) of that land. He deliberately misled the buyer, claiming the total plot size was 30 hectares, while in reality it was no more than 19.9 hectares. He was arrested by officers of the SSS and the Khorezm Regional Police while accepting part of the agreed sum. The total amount he intended to extort was US$180,000.

In the city of Kokand, a senior inspector from the local branch of the Cadastre Agency demanded US$150,000 from the head of a crop farming enterprise. He justified the demand by referencing his supposed assistance in 2024 in allocating 5.8 hectares of irrigated land. The money, he claimed, was to be passed on to high-ranking associates involved in approving the creation of a greenhouse complex on the site. He was detained while accepting the full amount by the Fergana Regional SSS in cooperation with the Department for Combating Economic Crimes.

In Tashkent Region, a previously convicted resident of Angren, born in 1987, attempted to sell 18 sotok (0.18 hectares) of land designated for gardening, along with an adjacent 2-hectare plot managed by the Akhangaran forestry fund. He demanded US$100,000 for the transaction, plus an additional US$21,000 to arrange the registration of ownership through his contacts in the cadastre system. He was apprehended upon receiving the full US$121,000 by SSS officers and the General Prosecutor’s Office’s Anti-Corruption Department.

A similar incident occurred in Surkhandarya Region, where an employee of the Tupalang-Koratog Irrigation Systems Authority offered to transfer ownership of 32 sotok (0.32 hectares) of protected riparian land in the Sariasiya District for US$73,500. He was detained while accepting US$70,000 and an additional 39 million Uzbek soums.

Criminal cases have been opened in connection with all of these incidents, and investigative proceedings are currently underway.