Court sets 5,000 GEL bail for former governor of Samegrelo - Zemo Svaneti

A Tbilisi city court has set a bail of 5,000 GEL for Levan Shonia, the former governor of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, after the Anti-Corruption Agency under the State Security Service of Georgia filed criminal charges against the former governor and had him detained.

An investigation earlier established that in May 2018, then-governor of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Levan Shonia requested citizen Z.K. to transfer USD 10,000 to the account of an individual referred to as G.A.

The investigation was carried out on the bribe taking by group of official authorities. Although, Levan Shonia is only accused of accepting prohibited gifts.

The lawyer of Levan Shonia says the former governor intended to donate the money to charity to help people suffering from cancer.

Testimonies, bank records and information retrieved from the cell phone of the above-mentioned individual referred to as Z.K. confirm that Shonia received the money, in addition to other official documents.

Former Zugdidi Mayor Lasha Gogia and Vice Mayor Gia Gulordava were detained during the same investigation for taking bribes on November 1.

In exchange for the money, the former mayor and vice mayor were supposed to aide Z.K. to acquire several properties that were to be publicly auctioned in Zugdidi, west Georgia, however, Gogia did not fulfil his promise.

The sites in question were a railway station, Gulua Park and Kvirkvia car station.