Kyrgyz Ex-Deputy Prime Minister Suspected Of Embezzlement

Former Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Azimbek Beknazarov

BISHKEK -- The former deputy prime minister of Kyrgyzstan’'s interim government, Azimbek Beknazarov, has come under suspicion of embezzlement.

The Kyrgyz prosecutor-general's spokesman, Seyitjan Apyshev, told RFE/RL on January 28 that a preliminary investigation revealed that Beknazarov might have been involved in the disappearance of 10 million soms ($210,000) allocated by the government for local elections in southern regions in mid-April 2010.

Beknazarov was not available for immediate comment.

Beknazarov, 56, became deputy prime minister of the interim government right after antigovernment protests toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiev in April 2010.

The interim government was dissolved in July 2010.

Preliminary investigations are still under way and no official charges have been filed.