12 cars illegally seized by ex-high officials returned to owners

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has returned 12 vehicles back to the former owners illegally seized under the previous government of Georgia. 

One of the victims was Gela Barkalaia, head of the Mate Motors car importing company. In 2010 Barkalaia was detained on bribe taking charges and in exchange for a plea bargain, Barkalaia was pressured to hand over 10 Toyota Hilux vehicles to the state. 

Barkalaia had no other way and accepted the pre-condition,” announced the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, noting the 10 cars had a collective value of 443,223 GEL. After signing a plea bargain Barkalaia was also forced to pay an additional 5,000 GEL fine. 

The Office claimed former deputy head of the second main Constitutional Department of the Ministry of Interior Affairs Vakhtang Bochorishvili was directly involved in the illegal seizure of these vehicles. 

In the other two cases, ex-top officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and Defence Ministry Military Police were also charged with illegally seizing cars from individuals in exchange for plea bargains.

The names of these two ex-officials has not been released.

Specifically, in December 2010 the former MIA official appropriated a car belonging to inmate Revaz Peradze in exchange for a plea deal. After signing the plea bargain Peradze, who was imprisoned for illegal possession and use of drugs, was sent to prison for a year and paid a 4,000 GEL fine. 

The same year fellow inmate Givi Guchashvili was also forced to concede his personal car, a Nissan, to the Military Police official in return for a plea bargain. Guchishvili was also slapped with a 5,000 GEL fine. 

Today the Office stated all three victims have had their property returned to them. It confirmed legal proceedings had not been launched against the three former officials as they had fully cooperated with the investigation.

The Department to Investigate Offences Committed in the Course of Legal Proceedings of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office was created in March, 2015 for the purpose of investigating crimes committed before 2012. 

The Department has already opened 20 cases involving 15 former officials. Twenty-one individuals were recognised as victims and have had their properties returned.