Kakhramonjon Olimov, who reported being kidnapped and tortured in France in the summer of 2025, is now listed in INTERPOL’s wanted persons database. The record published by the organization gives his name as KAKHRAMONJON OLIMOV, his date of birth as May 7, 1977, his place of birth as Andijan Region, and his nationality as Uzbek. INTERPOL lists Russian, Uzbek and English as languages he speaks. The record also asks anyone with information about Olimov to contact their local or national police or the INTERPOL General Secretariat.
“This extract of the Notice has been approved for public dissemination,” the INTERPOL website says. “If you have any information, please contact your national or local police or contact INTERPOL General Secretariat.”
Olimov’s appearance in the INTERPOL database followed reports that he had been remanded in absentia in Uzbekistan and placed on an international wanted list in connection with a kidnapping case. The Insider reported this on September 18 in its Russian-language publication, citing a source close to Olimov’s circle. At the time of publication, there had been no official public statement from Uzbek law-enforcement authorities about his procedural status.
According to The Insider’s source, Olimov is accused of organizing the kidnapping of his former employer and longtime business opponent, Batyr Rakhimov (the founder of Kapitalbank). The publication also says investigators are considering a version under which the story of Olimov’s own kidnapping in France may have been staged in order to link Rakhimov to the crime and put pressure on him in a long-running dispute over assets that had previously belonged to him.
“Olimov now stands accused of falsely accusing Rakhimov of organizing his kidnapping. More than that, however, it is also suspected that Olimov conspired with Uzbek security officials to arrange for Rakhimov’s actual abduction in order to pressure him into dropping financial claims. Rakhimov had previously accused Olimov of taking control of business assets belonging to him and demanded more than $200 million in compensation,” The Insider writes.
What happened in Paris
In the summer of 2025, Olimov told French authorities that he had been kidnapped in central Paris on June 22. According to his account, he was first taken to an unknown location and then to a villa near Nice, where he was beaten, tortured and demanded to pay $10 million.
After his release, Olimov went to the police. His story was initially reported in detail by the French newspaper Le Monde and was later covered by other international and Uzbek media outlets.
However, a joint investigation by The Insider and French publication L’Express, published in November 2025, identified a number of circumstances that, in the investigators’ view, contradicted the kidnapping account.
Among other things, a villa in Roquefort-les-Pins near Nice was rented through an intermediary. The passport of Shuhrat Ziaviddinov, a close associate of Olimov, was initially used as identification for the prospective tenant. After Olimov’s release, a first-class ticket from Nice to Paris was paid for by the driver of a man whom the banker himself had identified as one of the participants in his kidnapping. Olimov received a copy of the ticket from that man via Telegram.
Another issue was Olimov’s correspondence with the alleged kidnapper. According to materials obtained by The Insider, they continued communicating after the banker contacted the police. On June 24, while Olimov was undergoing a lengthy police interrogation, he was simultaneously messaging M. and discussing the transfer of $200,000 with him.
According to the publication, on June 26 M. asked Olimov whether the police had realized that the incident had been staged. Communication resumed several days later. Olimov wrote that there was “no enmity” between them and expressed relief that M. had not been detained.
A medical examination conducted eight days after the alleged kidnapping recorded bruises and abrasions, but the document did not establish their origin, The Insider reported.
The dispute with Batyr Rakhimov
According to investigations by The Insider and L’Express, the background to the story is a long-running financial dispute between Olimov and Batyr Rakhimov.
After Rakhimov left Uzbekistan for Turkey in 2016, a significant part of his business remained under Olimov’s management. The Insider says that in 2017–2018 they entered into a transaction through which Olimov gained control of a number of Rakhimov’s assets.
According to the publication, the initial value of the deal was $13.5 million, while Rakhimov later valued the transferred assets at a much higher amount and sought more than $200 million in compensation from Olimov.
According to The Insider’s version, this dispute provided the financial context for the kidnapping story involving Olimov in France. The publication says that after returning to Uzbekistan, Rakhimov began seeking to revise the transaction and was preparing for further legal proceedings.
Anorbank and Olimov’s status
According to the bank, Olimov previously held 52.3647% of ANORBANK’s shares, while the latest shareholder information puts his stake at 49.4235%. The largest shareholder is now Dutch company Bekamin B.V., with a 50% stake. ANORBANK’s charter capital amounts to UZS 850 billion (approximately $72 million).
According to the bank, Olimov was born in 1977 and has a higher education degree in Finance and Credit as well as a Master of Business Administration degree. He graduated from Andijan Engineering and Economics Institute in 1999 and the Higher School of Business at the Academy of State and Public Construction under the President of Uzbekistan in 2012.
Almost simultaneously with The Insider’s September publication of the report, the bank said on September 18 that the matter concerned personal issues involving one of its shareholders and was unrelated to ANORBANK’s capital, management or operations:
“The matter concerns the personal affairs of one of the Bank’s shareholders, which are unrelated to the Bank, its capital, management, or operational activities.”
ANORBANK said it had not received official confirmation or requests concerning the information being circulated and continued to operate normally. The bank urged the public to rely on information confirmed by official sources.
“ANORBANK continues to operate as usual. All banking operations, customer services, and obligations to clients and partners are being carried out in the normal course of business.”
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan’s current information on ANORBANK lists the bank’s active banking license No. 87 and confirms its continued operation.
Connection to the power plant project in Surkhandarya
Olimov’s name is also linked to a major energy project in Surkhandarya Region.
According to The Insider, QuWatt B.V., a company linked to Olimov, is part of the SCE-Quvvat LLC project company together with France’s EDF, Siemens Energy and Qatar’s Nebras Power. The project involves the construction of a combined-cycle power plant in Surkhandarya Region.
The project came under the attention of Uzbek authorities in July 2026. On July 27, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev criticized the choice of location for the plant at a meeting. According to official information, connecting the plant to the gas network alone would require around $300 million in additional expenditure. It was also stated that the terms of the agreement with the project initiator had not been studied thoroughly enough and could lead to additional costs. More details on the meeting and the criticism of the project are available in a Yep.uz report published on July 27.
On the same day, Energy Minister Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov was dismissed. The official reason given was serious shortcomings in the operation of the energy system.
The Insider reported that Mirzamakhmudov was detained two days after his dismissal and that a court remanded him in custody on July 30. Ozodlik, citing sources in law enforcement agencies, reported that he was suspected of abuse of office and misappropriation of funds. Official details of the criminal case have not been publicly disclosed.
On September 21, The Insider also added information from Ozodlik that Olimov and Mirzamakhmudov are in-laws because their children are married. However, there is no documentary confirmation of this relationship because the relevant registries in Uzbekistan are closed.
At the time of publication, there was no official information linking Olimov’s criminal case directly to the energy project or to the case involving Mirzamakhmudov.
In May, the Ministry of Energy reported that, with the participation of Qatar’s Nebras Power, energy projects with a total capacity of 4,133 MW were being implemented in Syrdarya, Surkhandarya and Navoi regions. These include thermal power plants with capacities of 1,573 MW in Syrdarya Region and 1,560 MW in Surkhandarya Region. Work was also continuing on a 1 GW wind power project in Navoi Region. The total value of the three energy projects was estimated at more than $3 billion.
Olimov’s story, which began with his account of being kidnapped in Paris, has now acquired a new criminal-law dimension. At the same time, the published information about the charges comes primarily from media reports and sources, while no official public description of the criminal case has been released by Uzbek law-enforcement authorities.
