Interior ministry detains 4, charges 8 with fraud, illicit income legalisation, unauthorised access to computer system
The investigation discovered that the victims of the organised crime group had suffered financial damage of more than €767,000. Photo: Ministry of internal affairs/Facebook
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The employees of the cybercrime division of the Georgian interior ministry have arrested four and charged eight individuals with fraud, legalisation of illicit income and unauthorised access to the computer system, the ministry announced on Sunday.
As the investigation established, the organised crime group had fraudulently embezzled money from the citizens of France and other countries through a fraudulent “call centre” service.
The employees of the fraudulent company, registered in Georgia, had been sending “pop up” messages to foreign citizens informing them that their computers had been infected with a virus, while providing a call service number to resolve the problem.
The company’s so-called IT staff used remote access software to log into the victim's computer devices and disable pop-ups in exchange for money, as well as install some software to make the victim think they were getting the service they paid for from the company.
The investigation discovered that the victims of the organised crime group had suffered financial damage of more than €767,000.
The crimes are punishable by imprisonment from seven up to 12 years.
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.
The Prosecution Service of Georgia has launched criminal proceedings against three legal entities and an individual for fraud and money laundering, the state body announced on Monday. The body said its investigation had established the “transnational organised crime group” had fraudulently embezzled about $2 million from the Director of a Hong Kong-based company.
The Prosecution Service of Georgia has launched criminal proceedings against seven individuals and two legal entities for fraud and legalisation of illicit income, the state body announced on Monday.
The Georgian law enforcement agencies, in cooperation with Germany, have arrested seven members of an international criminal group in Georgia which ‘fraudulently embezzled millions of euros from German citizens and laundering of illegal income.’
The prosecutor's office of Georgia has arrested two individuals for unlawful appropriation of a large amount of money from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and illegal obtainment of credit from TBC Bank, using their official position, the office announced on Wednesday.
Georgian police officers have arrested four individuals for hacking into a computer system for financial gain and theft, the Georgian interior ministry said on Friday.
The Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia on Tuesday said it had launched proceedings against an individual after identifying “illegal entrepreneurial activity”, legalisation of illicit income and tax evasion in the country’s Black Sea region of Adjara.
The British public broadcaster BBC on Wednesday revealed its investigation into a fraudulent “call centre” scheme involving David Kezerashvili, a wanted former Defence Minister of Georgia in the United National Movement Government, in a report that detailed a global network of a scam operation targeting customers.