Swiss Corruption Trial Begins for Gulnara Karimova
The high-profile corruption trial surrounding Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbekistan’s late President Islam Karimov, has opened at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland.
This case, which has been unfolding for nearly two decades, examines allegations that Karimova orchestrated a sprawling criminal syndicate known internally as «The Office». Swiss prosecutors accuse her of using this vast network to extract hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes from international telecommunications companies seeking lucrative access to the Uzbek market.
The indictment includes charges of corruption, money laundering and leading a criminal organisation. The probe has also ensnared the Swiss financial sector. A former asset manager and the Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier are currently facing charges in the dock.
Prosecutors allege the bank failed to implement adequate internal measures to prevent the laundering of illicit funds, which were reportedly funnelled through more than 30 complex corporate bank accounts between 2005 and 2012.
In 2016, Uzbek authorities prosecuted Gulnara Karimova for domestic corruption and embezzlement.
Gulnara Karimova is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence in Tashkent. Further highlighting the scale of the international scandal, U.S. authorities separately estimated that her syndicate amassed over $865 mln in illicit payments from telecom giants such as Telia, VimpelCom and MTS.
Unprecedented legal hurdles
The Swiss proceedings have been marred by legal complexities and highly unusual investigative hurdles. The cross-border nature of the financial network required complex international cooperation. In a rare move for the Swiss legal system, court officials travelled to Uzbekistan conduct interrogations.
Gulnara Karimova herself faced further questioning in Tashkent as recently as early 2026, though these sessions were strictly mediated by the Uzbek Prosecutor General’s Office.
Given her ongoing incarceration in Uzbekistan, Karimova is not attending the Bellinzona trial in person.
