Prosecutor’s Office charges one for fraud scheme promising travel, employment abroad

The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office on Friday said it had charged one individual with fraudulent appropriation of citizens’ funds in a scheme that promised travel and employment in countries abroad and used cryptocurrency platforms in appropriation of funds from the targets.

The body said the suspect had promised working visas for employment in Estonia and Lithuania, as well as assistance in entering the United States, through fake social media accounts.

The suspect told targets of the scheme to wire payments for the fake service to bank accounts owned by crypto traders in Georgia, before requesting the latter to send corresponding amounts of digital currency to his own account.

“Tens of thousands” of lari were fraudulently appropriated in the operation, the Office said.

The digital wallets involved in the scheme, and funds on them, have been seized by authorities.