53 chief executives being investigated in Georgia for money laundering
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The heads of 53 different companies are being investigated for tax evasion and money laundering, the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia reports.
Defendants allegedly attempted to retain 100 million GEL ($34.3m/€30.6m) in VAT and avoid transferring it to the state budget.
These 53 chief executives registered several companies in different regions of Georgia. They developed a criminal scheme by which companies used counterfeit assets to repay their taxes on goods imported to Georgia, mainly for petroleum products and to pay for current budgetary liabilities”, said Mikheil Oniani, deputy head of the Investigation Department of the Georgian Ministry of Finance.
The crime is punishable by nine to 12 years in prison.
The investigation is also ongoing to identify possible public officials involved in the scheme.
President of the National Karate Federation of Georgia Kakha B. has been accused of fraud by the State Security Service of Georgia.
The Georgian State Security Service has detained four individuals for fraud, who promised the head of a company to help him have sanctions against his enterprise removed and to win state tenders.
One was arrested for attempting to misappropriate another person’s money several days ago. Police reported that the detainee promised an Iranian national to help obtain a Georgian ID card and passport in exchange for $7000. Initially, the detainee received 440 GEL (about $153) from the citizen of Iran. Afterwards, police officers detained him.
Four people have been accused of fraud, including the misappropriation of state property, negligence and falsification of documents by the Investigative Service of Georgian Finance Ministry.
Georgian businesswoman Laura Ghatchava has been accused of laundering 2.16 million GEL (about $0.74/€0.66 million), the Georgian Ministry of Finance says.
One Turkish citizen has been detained for smuggling and using fake currency, announces the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance.
Two foreign nationals have been detained by the Investigative Agency for the Ministry of Finance of Georgia for for sale of the counterfeit €500 bills in Georgia.
Two individuals, including the former head of the Municipal Service Development Agency of Tbilisi City Hall, have been detained and three others have been charged with abuse of authority, misappropriation of funds and support of illegal activity by the Georgian State Security Service.
Three Georgian banks – TBC Bank, Bank of Georgia and ProCredit Bank – have been named in the FinCEN Files investigation into suspicious global money laundering which was published over the weekend. The FinCEN Files are leaked documents from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), that were investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and published on September 20, 2020.
The General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia is investigating a potential money laundering case concerning transactions worth tens of millions of US dollars in various currencies. As part of the investigation the officers of the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia searched several objects in Tbilisi to confiscate documents and electronic devices.