The Woman Who Nearly Pulled Off a $1 Billion Heist

The Most Hated Woman in Uzbekistan

Who is the Princess of Uzbekistan, really? I spent a few weeks talking to experts and scouring the internet to get a better understanding of who she is, what she’s done, and what exactly makes her one of the most hated women in Uzbekistan.

Special Thanks to Natalia Antelava, Kristian Lasslett, Andrew Stroehlein, and everyone in Uzbekistan who shared their stories with me.

-- VIDEO CHAPTERS --
0:00 Intro
3:31 Who is She?
6:51 Uzbekistan?
10:36 Who is She Really?
14:15 She’s Gone Too Far
23:25 Downfall
25:55 House Arrest
29:02 Conclusion

About:
Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 3.5 million on Youtube. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.

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[notapplicable]

"You mind if I clean up behind me"
*cuts to johnny*
*complete disarray behind him*

[SUBYEKTIV]

I'm a YouTuber from Uzbekistan. Johnny, thank you for this well-researched episode. This truly delves into the darkest side of our recent history and the greatest robbery ever to happen to Uzbekistan. I was aware of all this corruption, but I was amazed at how openly she used to write about everything on Twitter. That's insane! 🤯

[bobakhmedov]

we need PART 2 about current Uzbek princesses and their husbands

[bakhrommakhamadov]

Basically, everyone knew what she was doing behind closed doors. But it was very dangerous to say something about it. Her time as a princess has passed, but the circle of life started spinning all over again.

[jorabekadambaev]

As a guy from Uzbekistan all you you have said are actually true. However you missed worst parts of the story. She tried sell our gold, but plane carrying the gold bars were plundered by Putin's regime when the flew through Russia. Overall damage of Gulnara to our country to be estimated 15$ billion not 842 millions. Imagine those amount of money was distributed to ordinary people. She was a really insatiable beast. I can't imagine her being our leader. I think it would be interesting if you make a video about his father.

[CalebSamandar]

I recall myself as a young boy, around the age of 14 or 15, picking cotton in the fields instead of attending my school. Meanwhile, Gulnara was walking confidently down international catwalks, promoting her clothing brand, which was built on the hardships endured by children like me.

[rufatmehdiyev-evxq]

Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan etc. Former USSR Countries have a lot of issues like this one. It’s not surprising.

[ХакимовМухаммадали-еэ]

As a citizen of Uzbekistan, I can tell you that the saddest part is that people are not aware of these things. Media doesn't dare to touch this topic. People are brainwashed by propaganda and still think that she is a hero and feel sorry for her spending her time in prison. Our people are waking up eventually. Thank you for your effort and attention!

[mavlonodev]

As a follower from Uzbekistan who never skips any of your videos, I'd never expected to see you doing video about the hugest thief of Uzbekistan. Wow!

[Mrdreamerjohn]

Now in Uzbekistan the same horrific scenarios are being done by the Mirziyoyevs and their son-in-laws who have this tremendous power lust and ill intentions to torture the nation who are living miserably under their strict regime.
God help the people of Uzbekistan.

[khadijahcuts]

She already had the influence but Harvard really gave her the playbook and organization skills to maximize crime.

[jimbaygles]

As an Uzbek I can confidently say that she sold all artifacts and museum pieces from my country to private collections

[alesuluz]

English is not my first language, and even though I have a high level of proficiency in English, this was still difficult to follow. I can see that you were taking us through your own mental workflow, and I really appreciate the artistic aspect of this editing. However, please keep in mind that you have people watching from all over the world, and with this type of editing, we can easily lose track of the story while trying to keep up with the noises, movement, voices overlapping other voices, and the fast pace...

Since this is my first comment here, I just wanted to add that your work is impeccable and truly inspiring! I'm looking forward to seeing your next videos.

[kingsolo]

It's stated that in 2019, she was taken to prison for violating her terms of house arrest, then received an additional 13-year sentence after being found guilty of extortion, money laundering, and other crimes. Her daddy died in 2016.

[MarioMorkos]

Bro, stop with the cuts of you drinking coffee, editing the videos, spilling water - it’s waaay over the top, distracting from the main story you’re trying to tell us! Stop !

[OtabekHakimov-fhhh]

I was a student when I met her in a concert. She seemed so glamorous with elegant clothes. Actually, she was revered by many people in my country. She stole literally every business in my country back then.

[blakedake]

This felt like a 30-minute tiktok, so much going on, so much sounds effects and vfx.

[MIkromov]

Im from Uzbekistan and this is incredible researched video I have ever seen

[hermaeusmora]

If i learned one thing from this video is that rich foreigners should not be allowed to buy property in other countries, it's clearly a form of money laundering.

[pipeaza]

The edit on this one was all over the place, it felt so much more chaotic. A LOT of keyboard and mouse noices. It distracted me from the story. Either way keep the good work you guys are great