Int’l Prosecution Advisory Panel of Georgia justifies charges against TBC Bank founders
The co-founders of TBC Bank Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze were charged for laundering $16,664,000 in late July. Photo: Mzia Saganelidze/RFERL
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The International Prosecution Advisory Panel of Georgia has provided “outside assessment” of evidence in high-profile TBC Bank case.
In a letter sent to the Georgian Chief Prosecutor Shalva Tadumadze the panel explained that the evidence presented to them by prosecution “demonstrates a scheme” by TBC Bank founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze “to conceal the unlawful distribution of bank funds” constituted money-laundering, “the generic predicate crime for which was fraud”.
The evidence documents numerous irregularities, including that within hours of receiving funds from TBC Bank, Samgori M ltd and Samgori Trade ltd siphoned the funds to Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, who were senior officers of JSC TBC Bank”, reads the letter.
Taken in isolation, any one of the irregularities uncovered in the investigation might not establish criminal conduct in the processing of the loans in 2007 and 2008 as opposed to revealing technical violation of civil banking law”, it further notes, adding that “facts do not exist in isolation”.
Based “solely on the case materials” provided to the panel, it views the evidence as “sufficient to demonstrate the necessary predicate crime of fraud, therefore, justifying the indictments filed against” Khazaradze and Japaridze, as well as businessman Avtandil Tsereteli “for legalisation of illicit revenues”.
The Chief Prosecutor's Office released the letter on October 16:
Khazaradze and Japaridze were charged in late July with laundering $16.7 million back in 2007-2008, an accusation they call “absurd". Avtandil Tsereteli, the owner of Samgori M ltd and Samgori Trade ltd, has also been charged as an accomplice.
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Khazaradze, who opposes the ruling Georgian Dream party has founded the civic movement Lelo and has plans to create a political party in the coming months ahead of the 2020 parliamentary elections. He is also involved in the construction of Anaklia Deep-Sea port.
A pretrial hearing has been held in the high-profile money-laundering case involving Georgia’s top bankers Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze and a businessman Avto Tsereteli. Both the defence and prosecution have presented their evidence in the case which concerns the possible laundering of $16 million.
TBC Bank founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, charged with laundering $16,664,000, are going to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in the near future, their lawyer Zviad Kordzadze says.
Georgian businessman Avtandil Tsereteli has been given bail at 500,000 GEL bail by Tbilisi City Court today. The court has banned him from crossing the state border of Georgia without consent from the police. Avtandil Tsereteli has been given 14 days to pay the bail but he says he cannot afford to pay it.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office have summoned TBC founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze to charge them [later today] with laundering $16,754,000. The Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into possible money laundering on 2 August 2018, ‘after the Georgian Financial Monitoring Service sent us a written note about a possible violation’ taking place in 2007- 2008.