Mass poisoning of 105 children in Fergana: convicts released from custody in the courtroom

Case of poisoning of 105 children in Fergana: culprits released from custody in the courtroom

In the criminal case concerning the mass poisoning of more than 100 children in Fergana, 4 people were brought to criminal liability.

As part of the criminal case, the head, director, technologist, and accountant of "Garden catering trade" LLC, which was engaged in catering food delivery to state kindergartens in the cities of Fergana and Kuvasay, were tried. In addition to the act that caused the mass poisoning of children, they were also found guilty of committing crimes such as theft, embezzlement or fraud, and falsification of documents.

Accusation

According to the court verdict, the officials of "Garden catering trade" LLC embezzled 330.8 million sums of budget funds by artificially and groundlessly inflating the number of children in daily menus, generating fake reports about this, and submitting them for payment.

They also entered false information stating that 1,270 kg of butter worth 79 million 853 thousand sums and 2,447 kg of meat products worth 183.5 million sums, which should have been consumed by the pupils according to the established standard, were allegedly fully provided to the children. Then, by submitting a total of 263 million sums for payment, they embezzled 594 million sums of budget funds.

The LLC also secretly stole electricity worth 35 million sums, causing damage worth 105.8 million sums to the interests of the Kuvasay city electricity supply enterprise.

Furthermore, without fulfilling obligations such as ensuring that the holding time of prepared first and second courses on the stove does not exceed 2 hours and that meals are not reheated, the LLC delivered low-quality meat dolma food to kindergartens in the city of Fergana on February 20, 2026. As a result, 105 kindergarten children suffered mass poisoning on February 21, 2026.

In addition, the officials of the LLC excessively included up to 30 percent extra charges in the menus drawn up in July 2025 for 22 kindergartens belonging to the preschool and school education department of Kuvasay city, compiled false reports about this, and submitted them for payment. Consequently, they embezzled 171 million sums of budget funds.

Also, in August 2025, prepared food products worth 53.4 million sums delivered to 35 kindergartens in the cities of Margilan, Kuvasay, Fergana, and the Fergana and Kuva districts were found unfit for consumption and returned to the company. However, false reports stating that these products had been delivered to the pupils were compiled and submitted for payment.