page_title: Telecom corruption scandal
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Telecom corruption scandal / Background
caption_attribution_description: DEAD SEA/JORDAN,17MAY09 - Gulnora I. Karimova, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, The Social Initiatives Support Fund, Uzbekistan captured during the Soft Touch of the Middle East at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East 2009
context_page_description: The Telecom corruption scandal is a 2012 corruption case involving the daughter of President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, Gulnara Karimova, accepting bribes from several foreign telecom companies in exchange for contracts to do business within Uzbekistan. Revelations showed that Karimova was paid bribes through a series of shell companies by a series of firms seeking to negotiate with her directly. In addition, it was discovered that more industries had paid bribes for access to Uzbekistan than simply telecom firms.
context_section_description: A Swiss criminal investigation begun in 2012 was directed at first against four Uzbek citizens who had connections to Karimova. Two of them were arrested that year and freed on bail. Also in 2012, a Swedish TV documentary stated that a Swedish telecom group, TeliaSonera, in exchange for licenses and frequencies in Uzbekistan, had paid $320 million to a Gibraltar-based shell company, Takilant, that was reportedly linked to Karimova. TeliaSonera denied the charges.
caption: Gulnara Karimova
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