– Rosa, I have been overwhelmed by family and household worries. I closed my eyes tightly and thought, should I go to some foreign country? I was suffering from lack of money and helplessness. I lost hope for living, – the 'girl' cried over the phone.
– No, don’t do that, Gulim, I will solve your problems today. Just pull yourself together! – said Rahmon and transferred almost 152 million soums to the plastic card number sent by the 'girl' without any hesitation...
Rahmon Umarov, a citizen of Gijduvan, had been in continuous phone communication with a girl who introduced herself as "Gulnoza Olimova" for 2-3 months. The girl, with her ringing voice and unique photos sent via the Telegram network, had captured his thoughts and feelings, even driving him almost crazy. She claimed to work at the International Navoi Airport and said she was living in a rented apartment in Navoi city.
One day, the 'girl' called the young man, saying she couldn’t pay the rent and that the landlord was about to evict her, which stirred feelings of pity and compassion in Rahmon Umarov. She cried, asking him to urgently transfer money to her plastic cards. Rahmon Umarov transferred almost 152 million soums to the plastic cards sent by her without any objections.
Not long after, Rahmon Umarov discovered that the girlfriend he had been communicating with for a long time was actually not a 'girl' but a 28-year-old man. He reported to law enforcement agencies about being deceived and falling into a scam. During the investigation and judicial proceedings, it was revealed that "Gulnoza Olimova" was not a girl but actually Farid Botirov from Kashkadarya. It was found that the guilty party could only return 25 million soums of the money obtained through fraud to its owner, having spent the rest for his own needs.
“This criminal case, reviewed by the Korovulbozor District Court, applied Article 168 (Fraud) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan against the perpetrator. The appellate instance of the Bukhara Regional Court also upheld the sentence given to the perpetrator without changes. Farid Botirov was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment. He will serve his sentence in general regime colonies. The criminal received a punishment commensurate with his actions. However, we urge our citizens to be cautious when using social networks and not to trust various tricks and scams,” said Nozimjon Jo‘rayev, a judge of the Bukhara Regional Court.
