Five arrested for cross-border extortion, money laundering
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. Photo: video grab.
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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.
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.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has instructed Minister of Finance Lasha Khutsishvili to investigate activities of call centres in the country, following a lawsuit stemming from allegations related to an October case of fraudulent operations set up by a group of Georgian and Israeli citizens in Georgia.
The Head of the State Security Service of Georgia, Grigol Liluashvili, has filed a lawsuit against Mtavari Arkhi and Formula TV channels after the media outlets aired reports alleging links between him and the criminal case dating back to October and relating to fraudulent operations set up by a group of Georgian and Israeli citizens in Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has said that the former official of the United National Movement (UNM), David Kezerashvili, allegedly stands behind the fraudulent call centres. Garibashvili claims that Kezerashvili, who held the position of the minister of defense of Georgia under the UNM government, supposedly organised a criminal investment network operating as call centres.
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