BELLINZONA — A Swiss court in Bellinzona dismissed a trial against Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of a former president of Uzbekistan, on charges including money laundering and bribery. The proceedings were abandoned one day after they opened in the southern Swiss city, having been scheduled to run through May 22.

The presiding judge said Uzbek authorities had indicated that Karimova would not be released until after her full sentence is completed in December 2028 on convictions in Uzbekistan including embezzlement. The charges in Switzerland will have elapsed under the statute of limitations by that time.

The Swiss case centered on alleged bribery and money laundering involving assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars and a crime ring known as "The Office," which involved several dozen people and multiple companies. The trial against Karimova was dropped, but proceedings will continue against Swiss private bank Lombard Odier and a former employee over allegations that they had a "decisive role" in hiding the proceeds of the crime ring's activities. Lombard Odier said the charges against it center on "organizational shortcomings in prevention measures," not allegations of involvement in money laundering.

Karimova was first convicted in Uzbekistan in 2015 and was initially ordered to serve her sentence at her daughter's home. A 2019 court ruling placed her behind bars for violating the terms of her confinement. She is now serving a 13-year sentence for organizing a criminal group, extortion and embezzlement, and has been held in a women's penal colony on the outskirts of Tashkent since early last year. Because her Uzbek sentence is not set to conclude until December 2028, the Swiss charges will have elapsed under the statute of limitations before she could appear before the court in Bellinzona.