The Woman who Robbed $1 BILLION (and almost got away)

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Published 2024-04-26
The Most Hated Woman in Uzbekistan
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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.

Check out all my sources for this video here: docs.google.com/document/d/1KYaOcT7BdjnfU_8_XueIWP…

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-- 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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NYTimes: www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/opinion/democrats-blue-…
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Vox Borders:    • Inside Hong Kong’s cage homes  
NPR Planet Money: www.npr.org/transcripts/1072164745

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All Comments (21)
  • "You mind if I clean up behind me" cuts to johnny complete disarray behind him
  • 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.
  • @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! 🤯
  • @user-rn6gm2in9d
    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!
  • @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.
  • @blakedake19
    This felt like a 30-minute tiktok, so much going on, so much sounds effects and vfx.
  • @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.
  • @thealiaria
    Please lower the cuts! I can't focus on the contents anymore. I'm just seeing some shots and listening to some voices
  • @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!
  • @OS-hx4jk
    Hey Johnny: I generally like the super-informal studio scene, but you overdid it this time. The editing is atrocious, unfortunately. Very, very distracting.
  • @falling1888
    Some of the "dramatic editing" is too over the top and really distasteful. It's like watching indian soap opera but for mini-documents.
  • @KawaiiKasai
    When she screams for her father, you can tell by her tone she knows she's about to have a really rough time in prison.
  • @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
  • @luiza7453
    This is intended as constructive feedback and not a criticism of your work, but I found this video to be excessively chaotic. The combination of keyboard sounds, multiple voiceovers overlapping, water spilling, eating sounds, and drinking/slurping didn't seem to fit well in a documentary-style format. It felt more suitable for a fast-paced TikTok video. However, I did appreciate the detailed information provided and the parts of the video that were less chaotic worked quite effectively. The content and story were very interesting as well.
  • @gilessteve
    Something about the editing made this difficult to watch.
  • @kingsolo5009
    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.
  • @jacobpetote6514
    Anybody else felt the weird editing distracting from the story compared to his over videos? I found this story interesting and then it would weirdly cut someone talking with clicking and keyboard typing that found ut hard to follow.
  • The editing was kind of weird. No need to see all the emails being sent and the lady fixing her seating and all the keyboard stuff is really annoying. But the story was important
  • I personally dont like the "im doing research and clicking things" style.