DUSHANBE, September 13, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- The appeals court of Tajikistan''s Supreme Court has considered an appeal by lawyers of Jourabek Okhounov, top manager of “Movarounnahr,” which is Tajikistan’s largest real estate development company, and partially acquitted him, Shuhrat Qudratov, one of lawyers of Okhounov, told Asia-Plus Thursday afternoon.

According to him, the charge of causing property damage by deception or abuse of confidence has been dropped and the court has reduced Okhounov’s jail term by six months.

The court considered the appeal on September 13.

“Besides, the half-finished facilities (eight apartment buildings) that were supposed to be put up for sale were returned to the company for completion and further handover to its customers,” the lawyer said.

We will recall that the Supreme Court sentenced Jourabek Okhounov to 14 years in prison on July 5.  The sentence followed his conviction on charges of a large-scale fraud, illegal entrepreneurship, and causing property loss by deception or abuse of confidence and misappropriation.

Judge Shavkat Abdulkhairov said the sentence was reduced by one-third under an amnesty.  Since Okhounov has been held in the pretrial detention facility since November 10, 2010, he should have spent seven years and eight months in prison.  Now he will spend seven years and two months in prison.

Jourabek Okhounov was arrested in November 2010 and a criminal investigation into the private real-estate developer was sent to the Supreme Court for consideration in August 2011.

New charge was brought against Okhounov in September 2011.  Okhounov, who had previously been charged with a large scale fraud, now also faced the charge of embezzlement of 750,000 somoni that were allocated by the Agency for Insurance under the Government of Tajikistan for construction of two buildings in the provinces.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office launched repeat probe into activity of Movarounnahr and new charge was officially brought against Jourabek Okhounov in January 2012 - causing property damage by deception or abuse of confidence (Article 253 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code).