In Andijan, a court sentence was handed down to 13 people, including former heads and accountants of a medical association.

Court sentence handed down to 13 individuals, including former leaders and accountants of medical association in Andijan

Court sentences have been read to 13 employees of the Andijan City Medical Association regarding the identification of violations amounting to over 3.4 billion UZS in the use of budget funds.

Based on the decision of the investigator of the Andijan Region Prosecutor's Office, experts from the Andijan Region Department of the State Financial Control Inspection under the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor General's Office conducted an audit. When examining the association's expenditures for 2021–2024, a series of violations were uncovered in the procurement of medicines, payments for services, and payroll calculations for employees.

### Medicines were not delivered, but paid for

It was reported that the association had concluded contracts with several pharmaceutical enterprises for the supply of medicines and medical devices. However, certain products were not actually delivered to the institutions. Despite this, electronic invoices were drawn up as if they had been received, and funds were transferred to the suppliers from the budget.

For example, the former chief accountant paid 444.2 million UZS to an LLC for products that were never delivered.

In 2021–2024, a total of more than 1 billion 536 million UZS was unreasonably transferred to 15 supplier enterprises in this manner. In addition, medicines were purchased at prices 218.4 million UZS higher than agreed in the contract. Established reference prices were also not observed.

Similar cases were recorded in payments for services. In particular, funds were transferred for services that were not rendered in certain maternity complexes. In the children's hospital, payment was made for an unperformed portion of laundry services.

### Salaries amounting to 410.8 million UZS calculated for 33 employees who did not work

The audit revealed that salaries totaling 410.8 million UZS were calculated for 33 employees who did not actually work. In some cases, false information was entered into time sheets, and salaries were paid to employees who had not performed the specified volume of work.

Furthermore, an excess of 49.4 million UZS was paid to 32 employees whose qualification category validity had expired, and an additional 62.4 million UZS was given as bonuses to 27 employees. Requirements of the law were also violated in rewarding employees with disciplinary sanctions, as well as in payments related to staffing and work experience.

Additionally, during the recalculation process, an excess of 215.1 million UZS was calculated for 159 employees, and 60.9 million UZS for annual leave for 248 employees.

The total amount of financial errors and deficiencies identified in the audit amounted to 3 billion 425 million 597 thousand 900 UZS.

### Court sentence

By the verdict of the Jalaquduq District Court for Criminal Cases, all 13 defendants were found guilty. Some were charged with official negligence, while others were convicted of misappropriation or embezzlement of budget funds and official forgery.

In particular, the former head and former chief accountant of the association were found guilty under Part 1 of Article 207 of the Criminal Code. However, no punishment was imposed on them due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution.

F.M., the former deputy head of the association for economic and general affairs, was also found guilty under Part 1 of Article 207 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 1 year of correctional labor, with 20 percent of his salary withheld for the state revenue.

Former chief accountant S.Y. was found guilty under Paragraph "a" of Part 3 of Article 167 and Part 1 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code, and was sentenced to 1 year and 7 months of correctional labor.

Deputy Chief Accountant J.M. and Material Assets Accountant M.I. were also found guilty under Paragraph "a" of Part 3 of Article 167 and Part 1 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code. Each of them was sentenced to 1 year and 7 months of correctional labor, with 20 percent of their salaries withheld for the state revenue.

The remaining seven accountants were found guilty under Paragraphs "a", "v", "g" of Part 2 of Article 167 and Part 1 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code. Each of them was sentenced to 1 year and 1 month of correctional labor, subject to withholding 20 percent of their salaries for the state revenue.

All 11 sentenced defendants were deprived of the right to work in official positions and positions involving material responsibility in state organizations for a term of 1 year.

Furthermore, to compensate for the damage caused, funds amounting to over 891 million UZS deposited into the deposit account of the prosecutor's office were ordered to be transferred to the local budget of the Andijan region.