Georgian law enforcement, international partners solve transnational call centre fraud
Property obtained by the fraudulent operations through criminal means, and funds placed by them in their bank accounts, were also confiscated, while one of the organisers of the group was arrested. Photo: pog.gov.ge
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The prosecutor general’s office of Georgia on Wednesday said it had solved a transnational crime involving fraudulent call centre services together with law enforcement agencies of seven partner countries.
As part of the effort, German and Georgian law enforcement agencies carried out investigative activities in dozens of locations on the territory of Georgia, the office said, with about 60 German and 300 Georgian law enforcement professionals involved in the “large-scale operation” following several months of joint preparation.
Five fraudulent call centre operations, dozens of involved individuals, as well as their apartments, cars and workplaces were searched in the effort, with hundreds of electronic information carriers, documents and a “large amount” of money seized as a result, the state body announced.
Property obtained by the fraudulent operations through criminal means, and funds placed by them in their bank accounts, were also confiscated, while one of the organisers of the group was arrested.
Activities of the group involved establishment of companies in different countries, including in Georgia, before they arranged the fraudulent call centre services and appropriated “millions of euros” belonging to citizens of EU member states, including Germany, the office said.
Members of the criminal group created electronic trading platforms under different brand names, which ensured placement of fraudulently obtained funds from customers to the bank accounts of the fictitious enterprises.
The latest effort comes after Georgian law enforcement agencies, in cooperation with their German counterparts, in October 2021 arrested seven members of an international criminal group in Georgia which fraudulently embezzled “millions of euros” from German citizens and laundered the illegal income.
The arrests came after a group of Georgian and Israeli citizens established six limited liability companies and organised a fraudulent call centre service starting in 2015 to target citizens of various European countries.
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.
A total of 46 call centres operating in Georgia have suspended their activities while being investigated by the Ministry of Finance for alleged “illegal activities”, Lasha Khutsishvili, the Finance Minister of Georgia, said on Monday.
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.
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 general’s office of Georgia on Wednesday announced Vazha Meladze, the founder of Meladze Interior furniture company who has been charged with money embezzlement, was wanted by the country’s law enforcement.
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.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said the new investigation by the British public broadcaster BBC had raised suspicions that David Kezerashvili, the wanted former Defence Minister of Georgia in the United National Movement Government, was a participant in the fraudulent scheme “robbing European pensioners”.
Aleko Elisashvili, the leader of the Citizens opposition party, on Wednesday said David Kezerashvili, the wanted former Defence Minister of Georgia in the United National Movement Government, had “robbed the Georgian army” before moving on to “robbing European pensioners”.
The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office on Wednesday said it was involved in “large-scale” operations run under the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation against online fraud schemes involving cryptocurrencies, after the European body released information on the efforts on Tuesday.
The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office on Monday announced the commencement of legal proceedings against a criminal group associated with a “call centre” scam scheme operating in the country and targeting German citizens with fraud.