Finance Ministry investigators charge two for defrauding foreign citizens

The Investigation Service of Georgia’s Finance Ministry on Thursday said it had arrested two individuals for operating a fraudulent scheme to illegally acquire a “large amount of money” from individuals living abroad.

The Service said its investigation had found the offenders, together with other members of the scheme, had established a trading platform before offering the citizens of foreign countries investment through transfer of their funds to the accounts operated by the scheme.

The body said the individuals fraudulently acquired about ₾340,000 ($125,941) from a foreign citizen who transferred money to the bank accounts.

It also noted investigators seized information containing personal data of foreign citizens during a raid on a “call centre” facility in Tbilisi, adding an investigative efforts were ongoing to identify other individuals involved in the crime.

The offences are punishable by imprisonment between nine and 12 years.