President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree Wednesday reorganizing the Department for Combating Tax, Currency Crimes and Legalization of Criminal Incomes under the General Prosecutor's Office into the Department for Combating Economic Crimes.
The decree pointed to the need to review the tasks, functions and powers of the department due to the continuing embezzlement and misuse of budget funds.
The Department shall be an independent specialized law enforcement agency under the Prosecutor General's Office, and shall perform operational-investigative activities, pre-investigation checks and inquiries on economic crimes and corruption, the facts of legalization of criminal proceeds, financing of terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as compensation for economic damage caused by these crimes.
The Information and Analytical Department and the Organizational and Control Department and the Office for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption have been created within the department.
From July 1, the Center for Comprehensive Examination of Projects and Import Contracts under the National Project Management Agency under the President shall systematically provide the Department with the necessary information on suspicious transactions.
The Department shall be entitled to request and receive information from the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance related to the movement of public funds in bank accounts and single treasury account.
The Department should focus on spending of budgetary and state trust funds, foreign grants received under contracts signed by the president and the government of Uzbekistan, and foreign loans attracted under the governmental guarantees.
Department shall be entitled to initiate inspections of state bodies and companies with state-owned shares, as well as other business entities, regardless of the form of ownership.
The body shall also be entitled to access the database of government agencies and organizations used to implement the tasks assigned to it.
