Lawyer of Georgian ruling party’s Honorary Chair rejects “false claims” in bitcoin misappropriation case

Teimuraz Tsikvadze, the lawyer representing Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Honorary Chair and founder of the Georgian Dream ruling party, on Thursday dismissed allegations made by Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of the Georgian Co-Investment Fund founded by Ivanishvili, about having received from the politician and former Prime Minister a “letter in the style of a “criminal tally from the 1990s” following a court hearing on their ongoing dispute on Thursday. 

Bachiashvili, who in 2023 was charged with money laundering and misappropriation of $39.2 million in bitcoins in 2017, while working for Ivanishvili, made the claim in a social media post following a court hearing on his case.

In the letter, Bachiashvili said, Ivanishvili had expressed “willingness to settle for 60 percent” of the disputed bitcoin amount involved in the case if the payment was made before the preliminary court hearing scheduled for late March.

Responding to the claims, Tsikvadze denied the allegations, calling them “false” and accusing Bachiashvili of “distorting facts”. 

In his social media post, the lawyer confirmed he had communicated with Bachiashvili’s legal representatives and presented them with a settlement offer on behalf of Ivanishvili.

The essence of the offer was that the injured party would show goodwill by offering a ‘discount’ on the amount in question - 8,986.8675 bitcoins - if the defendant returned the corresponding amount before the pre-trial hearing. At this stage, it is still unclear whether the case will proceed to substantive consideration in court”, Tsikvadze explained.

Tsikvadze further dismissed Bachiashvili’s portrayal of the settlement offer as a “criminal act”, emphasising that mediation attempts similar to his side’s offer were a “common practice” in legal disputes.

He also claimed Bachiashvili was “deliberately spreading disinformation to create agitation and sensational headlines in the media”, and added “in my opinion, this tactic clearly demonstrates the weakness of the legal position of the accused”.