MOSCOW: Uzbekistan said on Friday it has jailed the eldest daughter of late President Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova — once a prominent socialite, fashion designer and singer — after charging her with massive fraud and money laundering.

In a statement the Uzbekistan Prosecutor-General’s Office said that “Gulnara Karimova has been charged” with crimes including fraud, money laundering and concealing foreign currency “and she has been held behind bars”.

The statement also said she was a member of an “organised criminal group” that controlled assets worth more than $1.3 billion in 12 countries.

It said these included London properties worth 22.9 million ($29.95 million) and hotels in Dubai worth $67.4 million.

Karimova, 45, is the eldest daughter of the late authoritarian president of the secretive ex-Soviet Central Asian state, who died last year.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2017