Three of the defendants (an Indian and two Uzbekistan nationals) are executives of Quramax Medical, a company that sold medicines produced by India’s Marion Biotech, in Uzbekistan. Pratar, who spoke in court, denied the charges but admitted to handing over the sum to officials through an intermediary as a "token of appreciation". Officials have not said why 45 deaths had remained unreported since last year. State prosecutors also said on Wednesday that Quramax had imported Marion Biotech medicines at an inflated price via two Singapore-based intermediary companies, which prompted tax evasion charges. Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Singh Raghvendra Pratar, Saidkarim Akilov, Quramax, Mukhammadsharif, Olzhas Auyezov, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Quramax, India's Marion Biotech, Central, India’s Marion Biotech, Marion Biotech, Thomson Locations: Uzbekistan, Tashkent, TASHKENT, India, Singapore