The Agency for State Financial Control and Anti-Corruption of Tajikistan opened a criminal case against the chief accountant and accountant of the Institute of Botany, Physiology and Plant Genetics of the National Academy of Sciences on suspicion of embezzling more than 1 million somoni intended to pay salaries to employees of the scientific institution.
On June 12, the department named the suspects – chief accountant Salokhuddin Akhmadov and accountant Farzona Ismati.
According to the source, in the period from 2023 to 2025, the suspects “by falsifying documents in several cases, in total indicated 1 million 46 thousand 366 somoni in the institute’s reports as paid wages and other expenses, and then embezzled these funds.”
It is not reported whether they were detained.
The agency opened a criminal case against Salokhuddin Akhmadov and Farzona Ismati under articles of embezzlement of property and forgery (Article 245, part 4, paragraph “b”, and 323 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan).
Under these charges, the suspects could face penalties ranging from a fine to 15 years in prison.
In May, the case was sent to the Sino District Court for consideration.
It is unknown whether a court verdict has already been rendered in this case.
The position of both defendants in this case has not yet been published in the media.
It should be noted that the misappropriation of employee funds in government institutions remains one of the most pressing problems in Tajikistan. Every year, hundreds of employees of government organizations and enterprises are held accountable for theft of budget funds and receive fines or prison sentences.
According to the Anti-Corruption Agency, in 2025, 1,979 corruption crimes were identified, committed by 1,207 individuals. As a result, 819 criminal cases were initiated against 1,059 people, which were sent to the courts for consideration.
