Uzbekistan Uncovers 35.1 Billion Soum Cashback Fraud

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — A fraud scheme involving 35.1 billion soums of budget funds has been uncovered in Uzbekistan’s Andijan region through the Soliq Mobile application in the form of illegal cashback accruals, the General Prosecutor’s Office said.

According to the agency, a pre-investigation check conducted by the regional department of the Department under the General Prosecutor’s Office established that a group of six citizens conspired to organize the illegal receipt of budget funds.

Investigators found that eight limited liability companies were registered under the names of three individuals. Despite the absence of actual financial or business transactions between the companies, fictitious electronic invoices for the supply of goods worth a total of 1.1 trillion soums were issued in March–April 2026 using computer systems.

Following this, fictitious retail sales receipts were generated through online cash registers. Based on these records, cashback payments were accrued via the Soliq Mobile application to 100,458 citizens.

As a result of these illegal actions, 35.1 billion soums were misappropriated from the state budget.

It was separately noted that officials of the Tax Department of Andijan region, despite identifying suspicious transactions and invoices totaling 1.1 trillion soums, failed to take measures to cancel the VAT payer certificates of the companies involved and did not report the situation to law enforcement authorities.

A criminal case has been opened under Articles 167, 205 and 228 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The materials have been forwarded to the prosecutor’s office for further proceedings.