Gulnara Karimova & Rustam Madumarov

On 3 October 2018 the Serious Fraud Office issued a claim for civil recovery in the High Court under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

The claim concerns a number of assets, including three UK properties, which the SFO alleges were obtained using the proceeds of corrupt deals in Uzbekistan.

On 18 December 2020, the Uzbek Supreme Court granted permission for the SFO to personally serve Ms Karimova and Mr Madumarov with a Civil Recovery claim issued by the High Court of England and Wales. Service was effected on Ms Karimova and Mr Madumarov, who are imprisoned in Uzbekistan on 22 December 2020. An application was then made on 23 December 2020 for the court to formally recognise service had been effected. The matter was listed for a hearing on 5 July 2021, where the court found that service had been effected.

Following further liaison with Uzbek officials, Ms Karimova was personally served with the relevant documents.

The SFO is now preparing to apply for a case management hearing to obtain directions to take the matter to trial.