Eurasianet on BBC investigation: questions mounting in Georgia about Kezerashvili’s political influence
The BBC investigation report published on Wednesday explored Kezerashvili's role at the heart of a shadowy network that had allegedly defrauded many, including elderly people, out of a total of a billion dollars by pushing scam stock and cryptocurrency investments on them. Photo: Tabula
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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.
The BBC investigation report published on Wednesday explored Kezerashvili's role at the heart of a shadowy network that had allegedly defrauded many, including elderly people, out of a total of a billion dollars by pushing scam stock and cryptocurrency investments on them.
“The report delivered another blow to the reputation of Kezerashvili, who has already been under scrutiny for his alleged meddling in Georgia's opposition party politics”, Eurasianet said in its article.
“The BBC cited multiple pieces of evidence linking Kezerashvili to groups of businessmen and companies involved in the network, including what is known to police as the Milton group and a group predating it”, the article noted.
Eurasianet highlighted that call centres, legitimate and otherwise, had been proliferating in Georgia in recent years, attracting the country's young foreign language speakers with relatively well-paid jobs, and noted Georgian law enforcers had recently started cracking down on the networks and raiding their offices, apparently following a push from European authorities.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said the British Broadcasting Corporation’s investigation that alleged links of Georgia’s wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili in an international fraud scheme had led to “truth” being “revealed” in the dealings of the former official, whom he called an “international scammer”.
Georgia’s wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili on Tuesday said the British Broadcasting Corporation’s investigation that alleged his links to an international fraud scheme was a product of a journalist of the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel, whom he accused of a smear campaign for damaging his “business reputation”.