AIBA chief Rakhimov denies criminal involvement

PARIS: The interim president of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), Gafur Rakhimov, has strongly denied allegations that he supports organised crime.In December, the US Treasury Department designated the Uzbekistan national as “providing material support” to the transnational criminal group Thieves-in-Law, which Washington says “originated in Stalinist prison camps”.The Treasury Department said in a press release: “Rakhimov has been described as having moved from extortion and car theft to becoming one of Uzbekistan’s leading criminals and an important person involved in the heroin trade.”The act of designating individuals generally means their US assets are frozen and American businesses are barred from dealing with them, the Department said.Lawyers for Rakhimov said he was “deeply distressed” by the allegations and “each and every one of these allegations is entirely untrue”.Rakhimov was named AIBA’s acting president in January after the removal of Wu Ching-Kuo, the Taiwanese former chief accused of bringing the body to the brink of bankruptcy.

from The News International - Sports https://ift.tt/2Gz4pIz