Georgian businessman accused of complicity in TBC Bank founders money laundering case posts 500,000 GEL bail
Georgian businessman Avtandil Tsereteli, accused of complicity in the money laundering case concerning TBC Bank founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, has posted 500,0000 GEL ($168,350/€152,728) bail. Photo: 1TV.
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Georgian businessman Avtandil Tsereteli, accused of complicity in the money laundering case concerning TBC Bank founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, has posted 500,0000 GEL ($168,350/€152,728) bail, his lawyer Kakha Tsereteli says.
One of Tsereteli’s relatives offered a piece of real estate as bail.
Back in late August when Tsereteli was granted the right to post bail, he claimed he would not pay because he did not have the funds to do so.
TBC Bank founders Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze were charged with laundering $16,164,000 on July 24, 2019 in a case that dates back to 2008 when LTD Samgori M and LTD Samgori Trade received a 17 million USD loan in an accelerated manner from TBC Bank without providing anything in collateral.
Bail was set for both of them at 700,000 GEL ($235,690/€213,819) on July 26.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office originally demanded bail be set at 1,000,000 GEL ($336,700/€305,455).
The Prosecutor’s Office says it had been looking into the possible money laundering case as far back as August 2018.
Both Japaridze and Khazaradze deny the charges against them.
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.
The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has requested the UK bank accounts of TBC Bank founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze be frozen.
Georgian businessman Avtandil Tsereteli has been charged as an accomplice in a money laundering case concerning the founders of TBC Bank Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze, who have been charged with laundering $16,164,000.
TBC Bank co-founder Mamuka Khazaradze says that the equivalent of more than $16 million has been frozen on his accounts and on those of co-founder Badri Japaridze per a request of the Prosecutor’s Office.
TBC Bank co-founder Badri Japaridze intends to sue Deputy Chairman of Parliament Gia Volski for ‘slander and degrading statements against the honour and dignity of himself and co-founder Mamuka Khazaradze.
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.