Uzbekistan Real Estate Scams: What Foreign Buyers Need to Know

Uzbekistan's property market is opening fast, and fast-opening markets attract fraud. In the last two years Uzbek courts and prosecutors have worked through a string of cases in which developers and sellers took money for apartments that were never delivered, sold the same unit to several buyers, or built on land they had no right to use. Foreign buyers are exposed to every one of these patterns, and they face an extra disadvantage: disputes over Uzbek property are heard only in Uzbek courts. This guide walks through the real cases and the specific defenses that work.

The "sold twice" off-plan scam

The most damaging pattern in Uzbekistan is the off-plan development that collapses or was fraudulent from the start. In a Tashkent case that reached the courts, a developer linked to an eight-story building in the Uchtepa district took deposits from 167 buyers for a complex that was supposed to be handed over in December 2022 and never was. In some cases the same apartment had been sold to more than one buyer. The building had been unlawfully converted into a multi-story housing complex, and the court ordered it dismantled, leaving buyers with neither their apartment nor an easy route to their money.

The defense: never buy off-plan on trust. Confirm the developer holds valid construction permits for the exact building, that the building is legally authorized for residential use, and that your specific unit is registered to you. A signed contract is not ownership in Uzbekistan; registration with the cadastre is.

Mass deposit fraud through installment schemes

Two companies, In-Fin-Stroy-Invest and Credit House, took deposits from roughly 800 people for Tashkent apartments sold under installment agreements, with total damage estimated at more than 16 million dollars. Separately, a scheme tied to the construction firm Glamour Gold and its Eco Dream complex affected around 300 buyers, with damages running to tens of billions of soums.

These schemes share a structure: attractive installment terms, money collected up front, and no delivered building. The installment format is designed to feel low-risk because you are not paying everything at once, but you are still handing money to an entity before there is anything to own.

The defense: treat any developer collecting staged payments before delivery as carrying delivery risk. Insist that funds route through a bank, ideally an escrow arrangement tied to construction milestones, so money is not released to the developer until work is actually done. Cash deposits are unrecoverable.

Seller and title fraud on resale

Fraud is not limited to developers. In a 2026 case reported in Tashkent, a buyer lost 20,000 dollars after trusting a seller and handing over money without proper documentation. Resale fraud typically involves sellers who do not hold clean title, forged or duplicated documents, or money exchanged outside the notarial system.

The defense: Uzbek authorities are blunt about this one. Any payment, especially a deposit, must be formalized through a notary. Money given without notarized documentation is the single most common reason buyers cannot recover funds. Verify the seller's registered title in the cadastre before paying anything.

The jurisdiction trap

Foreign buyers often assume that a contract clause sending disputes to arbitration in London, Dubai, or Singapore protects them. It does not. Real estate disputes over property located in Uzbekistan fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Uzbek courts, regardless of what the contract says. If a deal goes wrong, you will be litigating in Uzbekistan, in Uzbek or Russian, under Uzbek procedure.

The defense: do your due diligence as if there is no foreign legal backstop, because there is not. Engage a local lawyer before you sign, not after a dispute begins.

Practical checklist for foreign buyers

Confirm the building is legally commissioned and permitted for residential use. Verify registered title in the cadastre, for both off-plan developer entities and resale sellers. Pay only through a bank, never in cash, which the Tashkent rules require for foreign buyers anyway. Notarize every payment and agreement. Use escrow tied to construction milestones for off-plan purchases. Retain an independent Uzbek lawyer who does not work for the developer or agent.

Bektu was built for exactly this gap. It maintains independent developer records and project status data for Uzbekistan, so a foreign buyer can check a developer's delivery history against a second source before sending a deposit into a market where hundreds of local buyers have already lost money to undelivered towers.

Sources

- 167 defrauded: Tashkent court probes fake housing project built on school land | Kun.uz

- 800 people defrauded by two companies selling apartments, damages exceed $16 million | Gazeta.uz

- Tashkent fraud scheme leaves 300 homebuyers affected | UzDaily

- Buyer in Tashkent loses $20,000 after trusting seller | Zamin.uz

- How to avoid real estate scams when purchasing a home in Uzbekistan | Kun.uz

- Common Mistakes When Buying Real Estate in Uzbekistan | Jarnias Cyril

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