Finance Ministry Investigation Service charges 3 with misappropriation of state funds, “false entrepreneurship”

The Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia has launched criminal prosecution against three individuals for “misappropriation of large amounts of state money” through use of forged documents and “false entrepreneurship”.

The state body said on Wednesday its investigation had found the offenders had issued ₾2,345,524 ($866,754) in false VAT tax invoices for construction and renovation works that had not actually been completed on behalf of companies under their management.

The actions created a false VAT asset worth  ₾357,791 ($132,216), the Service added, with ₾164,375 ($60,742) of the sum used to reduce the individuals’ current tax liabilities while they received the remaining ₾193,416 ($71,474) in tax returns from the state budget.

The body said “appropriate procedures” were being carried out in order to compensate for the damage caused to the budget, with the crimes punishable by up to nine years in prison.