Audit Office to investigate alleged handover of car to opposition leader by wanted former official
UNM Chair Nika Melia (L) earlier said wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili was interfering in the party’s activities. Photo: Netgazeti
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The State Audit Office of Georgia on Tuesday said it would investigate a claim by a member of the United National Movement opposition party who said the party’s incumbent Chair Nika Melia had received a car as a gift from David Kezerashvili, the wanted former UNM Defence Minister and current owner of a commercial TV channel.
The agency said its Department for Monitoring of Political Finances would verify the legality of the alleged donation by the official of the former UNM Government, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia in 2021 for embezzlement of Defence Ministry funds while in office between 2006 and 2008.
The inquiry follows controversy and intra-party feud in the UNM between different camps and ahead of elections for selecting its new Chair.
Party member Levan Bezhashvili on Sunday said Melia had enjoyed a “close and friendly cooperation” with Kezerashvili over the past several years. The comment came in contrast to claims by Melia and his allies that Kezerashvili and the former UNM Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili had recently begun “interfering” in the party’s internal matters “from the backstage”.
In his interview for the Formula TV channel - owned by Kezerashvili - Bezhashvili claimed the former ministers had supported Melia “in several elections”, with Kezerashvili also gifting him “an expensive car”.
Gia Volski from the ruling Georgian Dream party said the ongoing developments in the UNM had "once again demonstrated" the party "has nothing to do with democracy". Photo: Parliament press office.
Responding to the claims in a social media post on Monday, Melia, who had accused Kezerashvili and Merabishvili of taking actions to remove him from party leadership, confirmed the presence of the car in the party garage, but stressed Kezerashvili had decided “on his accord” to send the vehicle “to party leadership” several years ago.
Melia - in charge of the largest opposition group in the county since December 2020 - said he had attempted “several times” in June 2022 to return the vehicle to its owner, following Kezerashvili’s “open intentions to interfere in UNM’s activities”.
In comments from the ruling Georgian Dream party, Gia Volski, the Parliament Vice Speaker, said the car could have been obtained with the money Kezerashvili had “stolen from the Georgian army” while in office.
The MP called for the legality of the donation to be verified, adding the ongoing tensions in the opposition group had “once again revealed the UNM as a radical and ruthless” political force.
Nugzar Tsiklauri, a member of the United National Movement opposition party, on Wednesday accused Vano Merabishvili, the former Interior Minister from the party during its time in Government, of ongoing “shadowy interference” in developments in the UNM and domestic politics in general.
Nika Melia, the Chair of the opposition United National Movement party, on Tuesday said “certain processes” taking place amid ongoing controversies in the party were “inspired, planned and organised from beginning to end” by Vano Merabishvili, the former UNM Government Interior Minister and David Kezerashvili, the former UNM Defence Minister and now private TV channel owner.
The Strategic Communications Service of the Government of Georgia on Tuesday dismissed allegations by the Chair of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia about a leak of personal information of a Georgian combatant from the archives of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia.
The Ministry of Defence of Georgia is filing a lawsuit against the former defence minister under the United National Movement (UNM) government David Kezerashvili and former head of the State Procurement Department Alexander Ninua, demanding compensation of €5 million for embezzlement, announces the Ministry of Defence.
Elections for the chairmanship of the opposition United National Movement party are underway for the second day by electronic voting.
MPs of the Lelo opposition party on Tuesday said their party may not cooperate with the United National Movement, the largest opposition group in the country, following the recent win of Levan Khabeishvili in elections for the new Chair of the latter.
The Tbilisi Court of Appeals on Monday upheld the City Court verdict of embezzlement of state funds against David Kezerashvili, the former Defence Minister of Georgia in the United National Movement Government, and ordered him to pay a €5,060,000 compensation to the Ministry.
Archil Talakvadze, the Vice Parliament Speaker of Georgia, on Monday said the latest claims of David Kezerashvili, the wanted former Defence Minister of Georgia in the United National Movement Government, on his alleged funding of domestic opposition groups contained “signs of political corruption”.
Khatia Dekanoidze, the former Chair of the United National Movement opposition party in the Parliament, on Monday said David Kezerashvili, the wanted former Defence Minister in the UNM Government, had “confirmed” connections with domestic opposition groups and non-governmental organisations with his comments on the weekend.
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 Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said the country’s wanted former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili had “confirmed” he was an “oligarch” and was funding domestic opposition and TV channels with funds “stolen from European pensioners”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday called on the country’s State Audit Office to look into income sources of several opposition groups, claiming they were setting up “fake organisations” and attracting foreign donations “illegally” for their political goals.
Boštjan Škrlec, the Vice President of Eurojust, the European Union’s Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation based in the Hague, on Wednesday hailed Georgia as a “very strong player” in the investigation of complex transnational crime.