A high-profile corruption case has been uncovered in Andijan, Uzbekistan, where a banking official was detained for demanding $90,000 in exchange for facilitating an interest-free loan.

The suspect - a deputy head of a regional bank branch - had authority over auctioning and selling collateralized property linked to loans, The Caspian Post reports via Uzbek media.

Investigators say he offered to significantly reduce the price of a building from 16.8 billion to 12 billion Uzbek soums and arrange a seven-year interest-free loan for a local entrepreneur, bypassing official auction procedures.

The deal, however, ended in an arrest. Security services reported that the banker was detained while receiving $40,000 out of the requested bribe.