THE playboy nephew of a Central Asian strongman whose Scottish front company was exposed last year has been arrested in Ukraine.

Akbar Abdullayev, whose aunt was married to late authoritarian president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, was detained at Kiev airport, according to Radio Liberty.

The 33-year-old was thought to have have been under house arrest in Uzbekistan before the death of his uncle. He was detained with a passport issued by the Dominican Republic.

Mr Abdullayev is understood to be wanted by Interpol after Uzbek authorities claimed he had stolen millions of pounds.

Last year he was revealed as the owner of a Scottish limited partnership, a kind of firm which can have secret owners who pay no tax or file no accounts.

Akbar Abdullayev

The Herald:

His Brook Organisation was named as part of an investigation into an £8 million turf war between Mr Abdullayev and a business rival, involving two five-star hotels in Riga, Latvia. The row was linked to a foiled assassination attempt, according to local reporters.

The Brook Organisation, which was registered in Fife at the time of the dispute, has now been transferred to another major mail drop for Scottish limited partnerships in Douglas, South Lanarkshire.

Radio Liberty’s Uzbek editor, Alisher Siddique, in a television interview, said: “The Abdullayev case is the biggest case in Uzbekistan since independence. Prosecutors have been able to cite $800m in their case.”

The late Uzbek president, Islam Karimov

The Herald: Islam Karimov has been been in power since 1989