A 38-year-old man, Parviz Bohirov, a resident of the Jomi district in the Khatlon province of Tajikistan, has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Dushanbe on suspicion of fraud.

The capital's police says Bohirov tricked 42 people into paying him money for counterfeit air tickets to Saudi Arabia.  He then kept the money for himself.

The investigation revealed that Bohirov had previously been convicted for fraud and was wanted for similar crimes.

A criminal case has been initiated against him under Article 247 of Tajikistan Penal Code – fraud.  According to this article, Bakhirov faces a fine of 250 to 365 calculated indicators (each indicator is worth 72.00 somonis) or imprisonment for up to 2 years.

All victims of Bohirov's actions are advised to contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Dushanbe at the following numbers: 2211542 and 2210057, according to the statement.

It is worth noting that another fraudster, a 30-year-old man from Khatlon’s Farkhor district, was previously arrested for deceiving two people by promising to help them perform Hajj in Saudi Arabia.  However, he failed to fulfill his obligations and stole 180,000 somonis.