Uzbekistan: Dictator's Daughter Buys £30M Mansion from UK Labour Backer

The Uzbek dictator's daughter may have suffered some financial losses this past year, but she's not exactly taking in ironing.

Among the many lurid stories on the British tabloid Daily Mail this weekend you might have missed this "phenomenal" deal: Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva and her husband Timur Tillyaev were able to purchase a £30 million mansion in Geneva from real estate tycoon Andrew Rosenfeld, a controversial new advisor to British Labour Party leader Ed Milliband, now leader of the opposition.

Rosenfeld paid £9million for the house four years earlier.

Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Tashkent claimed the deal "stank," because the money came from a brutal regime that "stole" from its people, says the Daily Mail.

The revelation adds to an existing controversy in the UK over the appointment of Rosenfeld, an admitted tax exile, following a £1million donation to the Labour Party, making him the party's biggest backer.

Says the Daily Mail:

Much of Lola Karimova and her husband’s income comes from the Abu Sahiy company which controls the majority of Uzbek imports and is believed to have a turnover of £250,000 a day. The couple have been accused of orchestrating criminal action against commercial rivals.

Ms Karimova’s £30million property purchase was reported in the Swiss press last year as an example of the ‘meteorite’ which had hit local property prices as a result of an influx of money from central Asia.

The story adds to the concerns about undue influence the Uzbek government could be capable of having on the UK government via PR firms.

The UK has pursued enhanced cooperation with Uzbekistan in recent years for trade and security motives, but has encountered problems, such as when British firm Oxus Gold found its assets seized and was forced to flee the country after the arrest of its chief engineer, and when a British Embassy press officer was arrested and fined for meeting with human rights activists.