Five arrested for cross-border extortion, money laundering

Five individuals have been arrested, with wider proceedings launched against a group of 17 persons, by the Prosecutor's Office and interior ministry for extortion of tens of millions of GEL from foreign citizens and money laundering.

Authorities said the members of the organised group had established fictitious ‘call centres’ on the basis of Georgian enterprises, targeting citizens of various European countries with fraudulent ‘services’.

Individuals involved in the case would contact their targets, introducing themselves through fictitious names and providing false information about the location of their company, before offering participation in e-commerce of securities, stocks, commodity assets, currencies and cryptocurrencies using electronic platforms created by the criminal group.

• Seven arrested for international extortion

The ‘call centre operators’ assured the consumers of making “solid profit” from e-commerce in case of an increase or decrease in prices, and successfully appropriated and laundered tens of millions of GEL, law enforcement agencies said.

The five individuals have been charged with fraud and money laundering, punishable by nine to 12 years in prison, while wider proceedings have been launched against 17 members of the organised criminal group in the case. Extradition procedures are underway against one person as part of the process.

Authorities also said proceedings had also been started against other foreign nationals involved in the group, with the support of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation and in the framework of a joint international investigation conducted with Georgia’s participation.