Dmitry Lee, who heads the National Agency for Promising Projects of Uzbekistan, is suspected of fraud

If the facts of embezzlement of large sums by payment operators are confirmed, Dmitry Lee faces imminent resignation.

It is possible that the scandal that is about to unfold will also implicate some prominent bankers. It is worth noting that prior to his appointment as head of NAPP, Dmitry Lee served as the director of the National Agency for Project Management (NAPU) under the President of Uzbekistan since 2019, and before that, he was the first deputy director of NAPU. Dmitry also heads the Chess Federation of Uzbekistan.

The mentioned fraudulent operations are related to the High-risk channel in Uzbekistan, based on the operations of Capital Bank, Aypak Kuli, Ravnaq (Octobank), and the intermediary UzNext cryptocurrency exchange. Throughout 2023, a highly unusual situation arose around the operations of this channel, as more than $30 million was frozen under various pretexts. The operation process of the channel was structured as follows: bookmaking companies, directly or through payment services, accepted funds into the aforementioned banks.

Then the money was transferred to the exchange, and after deducting a commission, it was sent to the customers in USDT. The process initially was cumbersome in terms of calculations, exchange rate reconciliations, and the periodicity of payments, which varied from 3 to 7 business days. After some time, delays in payments, freezing of funds, and unjustified fines began - citing a funds stagnation on the UzNext exchange or on other exchanges.

All individuals with whom they had connections are convinced that a group of fraudsters is operating here, who used their official position in Uzbekistan by exerting influence on third-party payment systems. With the help of local government officials, particularly the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this group managed to drive out competing payment systems from Uzbekistan, thereby creating a monopoly on servicing High-risk traffic.

The invested money belongs to the largest bookmaking companies, which are now seeking various ways to recover them, but all their attempts are futile. According to available data, participants in this group include the company Environex, in direct connection with the UzNext exchange, with the Korean holding company Kobea Group kobea.biz, and three banks - Capital Bank, Aypak Kuli, and Ravnaq.

Responsible for the technical implementation of the project is the PayCrypto service, represented by a certain Andrey Oshchipkov, and the curator of this direction is the aforementioned Dmitry Lee, who heads the NAPP of the Republic of Uzbekistan.