U.S. Wins Bid to Seize $300 Million in Uzbek Bribery Probe

The U.S. Justice Department won permission to seize $300 million alleged to be the proceeds of an international bribery scheme involving two Russian phone companies and a relative of Uzbekistan’s president.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter in Manhattan on Thursday allowed the government to take the funds held by Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in Ireland, Luxembourg and Belgium and in Clearstream Banking SA accounts linked to the companies in Luxembourg.

The U.S. said in a complaint that the money is tied to an international money-laundering conspiracy involving payments to an unidentified “Government Official A,” who’s a relative of Uzbekistan’s president, Islam Karimov.

Justice Department officials say VimpelCom Ltd., part-owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, and Mobile TeleSystems OJSC used a web of shell companies and phony consulting contracts to funnel more than $500 million in corrupt payments to shell companies owned by the official in exchange for access to Uzbekistan’s telecommunications market.

VimpelCom said in March 2014 that its Amsterdam headquarters had been raided by Dutch prosecutors and that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission demanded documents as part of the probe into its business.

Karimov’s Relative

The U.S. said that some of the funds it seeks are held by Takilant Ltd., a company owned by Karimov’s relative. Takilant held a minority interest in VimpelCom’s business in Uzbekistan from 2007 to 2009. VimpelCom “worked with Takilant in the past” to acquire frequency in Uzbekistan, the Russian carrier said in an SEC filing in 2013.

Justice Department lawyers argued they had authority to seize funds tied to financial transactions that violated U.S. anti-bribery laws.

Joshua Tulgan, a spokesman for Mobile TeleSystems, declined to comment on the judge’s order.

Rozzyn Boy, a spokeswoman for VimpelCom, didn’t immediately respond after regular business hours to an e-mail seeking comment. Marie Dalton, the lawyer for the U.S., didn’t respond to a phone call seeking comment.

The case is U.S. v. Any and all assets held in account numbers 102162418400, 1:15-cv-05063, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).