{"id":11498,"date":"2025-10-22T07:34:53","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T02:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frank.uz\/bez-kategorii\/former-humans-top-manager-behzod-botirov-has-been-arrested-in-uzbekistan-for-gambling\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T07:34:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T02:34:53","slug":"former-humans-top-manager-behzod-botirov-has-been-arrested-in-uzbekistan-for-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frank.uz\/en\/news-en\/former-humans-top-manager-behzod-botirov-has-been-arrested-in-uzbekistan-for-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Humans top manager Behzod Botirov has been arrested in Uzbekistan for gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Why is this important<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The case became one of the most controversial in Uzbekistan&#8217;s fintech sector. It addresses the issues of regulating payment systems and the boundaries of responsibility of fintech companies in the field of online payments and lotteries. <\/p>\n<p><strong>What happened<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On July 4, 2025, the Yakkasaray District Court of Tashkent imposed a preventive measure in the form of arrest.<\/li>\n<li>He is accused of illegally organizing or conducting gambling.<\/li>\n<li>In September, the court extended the arrest until February 2026, pointing to the risk of \u201chidden evidence and destruction\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>Botirov faces 7 to 10 years in prison.<\/li>\n<li>The case was initiated at the request of the National Agency for Perspective Projects, which revealed the acceptance of gambling payments through <strong>UPay<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The investigation believes that the company accepted bets online under the guise of legitimate operations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Humans<\/strong> stated that the charges \u201care disproportionate to the circumstances\u201d and that the defense had provided the investigation with documents denying Botirov&#8217;s involvement in organizing gambling.<\/li>\n<li>The defense filed an appeal, but the court upheld the arrest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What they say<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Humans emphasize that \u201csuch cases are usually resolved through administrative measures, not criminal prosecution\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>NAPP representatives claim that UPay&#8217;s actions were \u201csystemic\u201d and aimed at circumventing gambling regulation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2024, the Central Bank suspended the license of the <strong>Marokand<\/strong> payment organization (UPay brand, Humans group) due to suspicions of funds being transferred to bookmaker websites. In February 2025, the NAPP demanded the replacement of UPay&#8217;s CEO, with Ildar Vagapov taking over. <\/p>\n<p>In March 2025, the Central Bank partially lifted restrictions on Marokand, but the investigation continued. Humans is one of the largest players in the Uzbek fintech market with millions of users. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Behzod Botirov, the former top manager of Humans and former head of the UPay payment company, has been arrested on charges of illegal gambling organization. His arrest has been extended until February 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/frank.uz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68f92053eb847.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"2bf59057","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"Dv78f24rp1hU":11425,"YlB8HH34jIzY":"Former Humans top manager Behzod Botirov has been arrested in Uzbekistan for gambling"},"pin_until":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[2081,2079,2068,3369,3370,2201,3371],"class_list":["post-11498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-cb","tag-finance","tag-government","tag-humans-en","tag-maroqand-en","tag-napp-en","tag-upay-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.0 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Humans top manager Behzod Botirov has been arrested in Uzbekistan for gambling &#8212; Frank.uz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Behzod Botirov, the former top manager of Humans and former head of the UPay payment company, has been arrested on charges of illegal gambling organization. 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