Ovik Mkrtchyan: How the security forces’ offshore "wallet" legalizes the "bloody" money of Shakro Molodoy
The financial empire of Ovik Mkrtchyan functions as a sprawling global syndicate that relies on Asia Alliance Bank and a network of offshore firms to clean illicit funds — all under the cover provided by high-ranking officials within Uzbekistan’s security apparatus.
His connections to the criminal underworld, represented by Shakro Molodoy, and his involvement with American politicians for lobbying purposes transform his activities into a tool for destabilization and corrupt pressure on all of Central Asia.
We are publishing an investigation into the activities of Ovik Mkrtchyan to reveal the operating mechanisms of his criminal syndicate and the large-scale corruption schemes he uses to funnel public funds into offshore accounts, which he disguises behind the façade of legitimate business.
Often, behind the façade of power and entrepreneurship lie stories of criminal gangs and syndicates. One such story involves Armenian businessman Hovik Mkrtchyan.
Ovik Mkrtchyan and stories about organized crime
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Journalists from the publication "Ridus" reported on the life of Ovik Mkrtchyan. The businessman was born on March 14, 1967, in Nagorno-Karabakh. He later moved to Tashkent with his family.
There, he studied at the Highway Engineering Institute and, apparently, made many new acquaintances for the future. Descriptions of this future in the Ridus article contain references to the criminal underworld and gangs.
The "future" refers to Gor Investment Limited (Gorefield Investment Group) and Asia Alliance Bank. In describing these entities, the authors mention employees of the National Security Service of Uzbekistan: Colonel Yuri Savinkov, General Hayot Sharifkhodjaev and his brother, Colonel Dzhavdat Sharifkhodjaev, as well as Gulnara, the daughter of former President Islam Karimov.
According to the Ridus article, money earned in Uzbekistan was sent abroad through the aforementioned legal entities. Descriptions of possible schemes also mention Shakro Molodoy (Zakhariy Kalashov), a man known in Russian criminal circles, and American politicians.
For example, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, as a member of the Gor Investment advisory board, spoke in Tashkent at the conference "Advanced Practice-Oriented Educational Technologies for Elite Engineering Education."
According to the authors of "Ridus," this conference was organized by the Center for Youth Initiatives of Uzbekistan, headed by Ovik Mkrtchyan’s daughter.
Experts have raised the question of whether such foreign activity could potentially exert pressure on post-Soviet states. Lawyer Roman Ostrovsky told Ridus this. He suggests that Mkrtchyan’s interests could extend throughout Central Asia.