The prosecutor general in Uzbekistan is seeking freeze to $1.5 billion assets held by Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of the former Uzbek president Islam Karimov, including a plane registered in Malta.

Ms Karimova has been detained by officials on charges of fraud, evading customs and foreign exchange regulations, and money laundering, and was in custody pending a trial, the Uzbek prosecutor’s office statement said.

The statement also said she was a member of an organised criminal group that controlled assets worth more than $1.3 billion in 12 countries, including properties in London worth £22.9 million ($29.95 million) and hotels in Dubai worth $67.4 million. She was also alleged to have acquired $595 million worth of assets and received $869.3 million in kickbacks that were paid into offshore accounts.

Ms Karimova had been convicted of extortion and embezzlement in 2015, and sentenced to five years’ probation, which could equate to house arrest in Uzbek law.

However, her Swiss lawyer Gregoire Mangeat insisted that he did not know where she was being held and raised fears about her wellbeing.

Swiss prosecutors have investigated allegations of money laundering made against her since 2014.