Uzbekistan seeks Interpol arrest of Fergana businessman once barred by World Bank

Interpol has published a Red Notice for Muminjon Yuldashev, a businessman from Uzbekistan's Fergana region, at the request of the Uzbek authorities, Gazeta.uz reported Sunday. The notice, posted on Interpol's website, places him on the international wanted list on a charge of alleged embezzlement.

A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally detain a person pending a decision on extradition; it is not itself an arrest warrant issued by Interpol. According to the notice, Yuldashev was born on Feb. 18, 1976, in Fergana region, is 175 centimeters tall, weighs 95 kilograms and speaks Uzbek and Russian.

The charge

The notice cites Article 167, Part 3 of Uzbekistan's Criminal Code, which Interpol lists as "Larceny by Embezzlement." Under that article, the offense carries a fine of 300 to 360 basic calculation units, equivalent to roughly $11,000 to $13,000, corrective labor of up to three years, or imprisonment of five to 10 years, Gazeta.uz reported. The report did not say what property or funds the charge concerns, and no statement from Yuldashev or a representative was cited. The allegation has not been tested in court.

Recent visibility in Belarus

The notice follows a period in which Yuldashev was publicly active abroad. In April, Ivan Krupko, chairman of the Gomel Regional Executive Committee in Belarus, held talks with him, with Yuldashev described as a businessman from Uzbekistan. In July, Nadezhda Lazarevich, who chairs the Belarusian light-industry concern Bellegprom, received a delegation from Fergana region at which Yuldashev was introduced as a co-investor in a company called INKAS.

As recently as 2023 he held shares in the privately owned Madad Invest Bank, though his name no longer appears on its ownership list. In 2022, the outlet UzInvestigations had described him as one of the bank's largest shareholders and the chairman of its supervisory board, and had traced his interests to construction, textile and footwear firms such as Baxodir Log'on Tekstil, Vodiy Shoes and Royal Dizayn Loyiha.

Earlier World Bank sanction

Yuldashev's name has appeared in an international enforcement context before. In 2019 the World Bank imposed sanctions on him and on companies tied to him after investigating a water-supply project in Syrdarya region; according to the bank's findings, he had intimidated a rival bidder's representative and worked in collusion with government officials. The multiyear debarment from World Bank-financed projects covered Yuldashev personally, his firm Quvasoy Tamir Qurilish, since renamed Stroy Montaj Invest, and affiliated entities, and it was mirrored by several other international financial institutions, according to Gazeta.uz.

What it means: Uzbekistan's decision to go through Interpol, rather than handle the case domestically, indicates the authorities believe Yuldashev is outside the country, and his documented meetings in Belarus point to where his business ties have recently run. For Tashkent, which has spent years courting foreign lenders and is lining up billions of dollars in foreign-backed projects in Karakalpakstan, pursuing a figure previously blacklisted by the World Bank signals to those institutions that procurement misconduct carries consequences at home as well. The outcome will depend on whether any state where he is found treats the Red Notice as grounds for detention and extradition.