Kokand bank employee sentenced to 18 years for murdering client

Kokand bank employee sentenced to 18 years for murdering client

A loan officer at a bank in Kokand has been handed an 18-year prison term for killing a client in order to take his money and then trying to hide the crime, according to the Millar news program.

The incident occurred on March 30. Investigators said the client, identified as S.E., came to the bank branch to apply for a promotional auto loan. The loan officer, A.T., found out that the client had $5,700 in cash to pay for the car and, as the court established, decided to steal it.

After an argument inside the bank, the two men left together in S.E.’s Chevrolet Tracker. A second quarrel broke out after they had driven beyond the city limits. Court documents state that A.T. stabbed the victim more than 20 times in the neck and torso with a kitchen knife, causing his death.

The defendant then left the body in the vehicle, went back to the bank, and continued working until the end of his shift. That evening, in an effort to destroy the evidence, he drove the body to the Great Fergana Canal in the Uzbekistan province and threw it into the water.

The victim’s body was found six days later.

The victim’s mother said her son had left home that day with $5,700 to buy a Chevrolet Onix.

"After having three daughters, we prayed so hard for this boy. I gave him the $5,700 for the Onix. My husband and I gave him our blessings, and he left the house so happy," she said.

The Kokand City Criminal Court convicted the defendant under clauses "g" and "i" of Part 2, Article 97 of the Criminal Code, which covers premeditated murder committed with extreme cruelty and for financial gain.

He received 18 years in a general-regime penal colony. The court also ordered him to pay material and moral damages to the victim’s legal representative.