BBC reveals fraudulent “call centre” scheme involving former Georgian Defence Minister Kezerashvili
The network is known to police as the Milton group, a name originally used by the scammers themselves but abandoned in 2020. The BBC identified 152 brands, including the Georgian-based Solo Capitals, that appear to be part of the network. Photo: BBC
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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.
In BBC Eye, its documentary investigative series, the broadcaster said it had spent over a year looking into a global fraudulent trading network of hundreds of investment brands scamming targets. The investigation revealed for the first time the scale of the fraud, as well as the identities of individuals who appear to be behind it.
The network is known to police as the Milton group, a name originally used by the scammers themselves but abandoned in 2020. The BBC identified 152 brands, including the Georgian-based Solo Capitals, that appear to be part of the network.
There were no publicly available documents linking Kezerashvili to this pre-Milton network, but when we looked at the Panama Papers, his name came up again and again, identifying him as either the founder of the parent companies in the network or as one of their initial shareholders. Behind the scenes, Kezerashvili appeared to be at the centre of that network”, BBC said in reference to the globally significant release of 11.5 million documents leaked in 2016.
“[S]everal former employees of Milton-linked companies told us confidentially that they had had direct dealings with Kezerashvili and knew him to be involved in the Milton group”, the story noted.
The BBC said it was also able to find a number of other pieces of evidence linking the former defence minister to Milton brands. Several companies owned by Kezerashvili used a private email server, on which the only other users were Milton group companies. His venture capital firm, Infinity VC, owned the branding and web domains for companies that provided trading platform technology to the scammers.
The broadcaster explained operators of the scheme contacted their targets and offered opportunities for making profit, or sometimes offering them help in recovering funds they had already lost in previous scams. A majority of their victims signed up after being shown ads on social media.
Kezerashvili told the BBC via his lawyers that he strongly denied any involvement with the Milton group, or that he gained financially from scams.
The practices of the fraudulent operation include instructing their targets to download software, which is then used to remotely control their computers and place trades using them, with their “trading account” with the scheme described as a “simulation” set up to create an illusion of trading activity for profit.
The uncovering of the scheme follows the BBC’s accompanying of Georgian and German law enforcement in their raids on offices of the fraudulent operation in Tbilisi in November, which came after Georgian police made arrests in October and Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili said in April 46 call centres operations were under investigation across the country.
Details of the Milton Group operation were reported as early as March 2020 by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, which detailed a scheme of English-speaking “telemarketers” who were convincing victims from over 50 countries to put their money in fake investments.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Human Rights Committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday accused the United National Movement opposition party of being “silent” about alleged links of the wanted former Defence Minister David Kazerashvili with a fraud scheme uncovered by the BBC on Tuesday.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said the BBC investigation that alleged links between the wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili and a scheme defrauding European pensioners was a source of a “scandal” for members of the European Parliament who had claimed the former official was a media manager being “persecuted” in Georgia in a resolution adopted by the EP.
The United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan on Thursday said the investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation on alleged links of the wanted former Defence Minister David Kazerashvili with a fraud scheme against European citizens was an “important component” and said she hoped the Georgian authorities would have the opportunity to investigate the allegations in its own inquiry.
A fraudulent scheme linked with David Kezerashvili, the wanted former Defence Minister of Georgia in the United National Movement Government, by an investigation of the British Broadcasting Company has cost at least 33,000 victims in Europe an estimated €89 million, Eurojust said on Thursday.
Eurasianet, an independent news organisation based at the US Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, on Friday said questions were mounting in Georgia about the political influence of the wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili after a BBC investigation had identified him as the “lynchpin” of a global scam network.
Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze on Monday commented on the BBC investigation that alleged links of the wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili with a fraud scheme in Europe by saying the “robbery” was a continuation of the “organised robbery of the [Georgian] state” by the former United National Movement Government.
Archil Talakvadze, the Vice Speaker in the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday responded to the announcement of the country’s wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili of intentions to hand over half of his 51 percent share in the domestic Formula TV to the channel’s staff, by alleging the former official was “attempting to distance himself” from the media outlet after his “damaged reputation” following allegations of his participation in an international fraud scheme.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday highlighted “interest” from unspecified groups to see the wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili fund “revolutionary processes” in the country with “his bloody, dirty money”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said he was “astonished” to see the United States Ambassador Kelly Degnan “stand up” for the wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili with comments on allegations of the latter’s involvement in an international fraud scheme.
Maka Botchorishvii, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Integration Committee, on Friday said a number of resolutions by the European Parliament had involved “a number of inaccuracies” in their portrayal of Georgian domestic politics, and urged MEPs to “seek more information” before adopting decisions on related topics.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia on Saturday said it “intensively” continued to fight against transnational crime involving fraudulent call centre services, together with law enforcement agencies of European partner countries and under the coordination of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, in order to expose involved individuals and especially organisers of the transnational crimes.
Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, on Monday said the recent investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation showed “everyone in Georgia” that David Kezerashvili, the wanted former Defence Minister in the United National Movement Government, was “robbing European pensioners” through an international fraud scheme.
Law enforcement professionals from the Investigative Department of the Georgian Finance Ministry on Friday searched a location in central Tbilisi in the latest operation against fraudulent transnational call centre schemes.
Georgian Vice Prime Minister Thea Tsulukiani on Monday said the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office was involved in a “large-scale” transnational investigation on a fraudulent call centre scheme that had defrauded European citizens over the years.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday hailed charity initiatives by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the former PM of the country, and his role in replacing the “brutal, dictatorial regime” of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili in 2012, in comments at the Global Security Forum in Bratislava.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday claimed the opinions of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and the European Commission on the Georgian deoligarchisation bill “contradict each other”.
Levan Khabeishvili, the head of the United National Movement opposition party, on Tuesday confirmed his forthcoming meeting with David Kezerashvili, Georgia’s wanted former Defence Minister under the UNM Government, in Cyprus.
Grigol Liluashvili, the head of the Georgian State Security Service, on Thursday hailed the “genuine contribution” of the Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office and the ministries of Internal Affairs and Finance to combating an international fraudulent scheme reportedly involving David Kezerashvili, the wanted former Defence Minister of Georgia under the United National Movement Government.
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 Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia on Thursday said it was carrying out investigative and procedural actions at several locations in the capital city of Tbilisi as part of the international investigation against transnational crime involving fraudulent call centre services.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia arrested seven members of the organised crime group on Saturday as part of the international investigation against transnational crime involving fraudulent call centre services, in cooperation with the law enforcement agency of Switzerland and under the coordination of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, the body said on Sunday.
The Tbilisi City Court sentenced an Albanian national to a three-month extradition detention for his involvement in a “call centre” scam scheme that defrauded German citizens, following a request by the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office.