DUSHANBE, April 24, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- The Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption has not yet officially received the report about audit carried out at the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) by Ernst & Young, the anticorruption agency chief Sherkhon Salimzoda remarked at a news conference in Dushanbe on April 24.

“The results of the audit are not reason for instituting criminal proceedings to investigate into the cases that were exposed during the audit,” said Salimzoda, “We should thoroughly study the audit materials and inspect the reported facts and we will do this in the near future.”

We will recall that international audit and consulting firm Ernst & Young carried out a special audit at the central bank of Tajikistan suggested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Findings released by Ernst & Young showed that former NBT chairman Murodali Alimardon diverted 856.4 million US dollars to a company named Credit-Invest.  Instead of spending the money on agriculture-related projects as it was supposed to, the company spent lavishly on other ventures, including 800,000 somoni on a restaurant in the city of Istaravshan, according to the report.  As of August 31, 2008, Credit-Invest owed 295.3 million dollars to the central bank.

In addition, the Ernst & Young audit found that $221.5 million in state funds that were allocated from 2004-2007 for projects to develop the cotton sector have disappeared.