Group charged with fraud through social media scheme

A criminal prosecution has been launched against an individual for embezzling large sums of money through a fake Facebook page, the Prosecution Service of Georgia announced on Wednesday. 

The state body, in cooperation with the Investigation Service of the Finance Ministry, said it had found members of a fraud scheme had provided their potential victims with fake information about issuance to them of preferential loans in the amount of between €5,000-1,000,000 by a banking institution accredited in Europe. 

Funds of the Georgian citizens responding to the scheme were then transferred to the bank accounts of the criminal group members both inside the country and outside its borders, the Prosecution Service said.

Fraud charges involve sentences from six to nine years, the state body noted, adding courts had already sentenced one individual in the case to detention as a measure of restraint. 

Further investigation is underway to identify and expose the other members of the criminal group, as well as other persons engaged in similar activities.

The state body also called on the public to be watchful over information posted on social media, and to apply to the Prosecution Service about “suspicious offers”.