Georgian authorities said on Tuesday that the arrest of Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former aide to billionaire ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, on charges of embezzling over $800 million in cryptocurrency from his former boss.
Bachiashvili was captured near Georgia’s southern border with Armenia and Azerbaijan after an anonymous tip-off, the State Security Service said in a statement posted on Facebook. He now also faces investigation for illegal border crossing, having allegedly escaped Georgia in March by hiding inside a vehicle before crossing into Armenia and continuing to a third country.
Once the head of Ivanishvili’s investment fund, Bachiashvili was sentenced to 11 years in prison for misappropriating funds linked to a 2015 cryptocurrency mining venture financed by Cartu Bank, owned by Ivanishvili.
Bachiashvili denies all charges, calling them politically motivated and accusing Georgian authorities of punishing him for supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia contrary to Ivanishvili’s increasingly pro-Russian political alignment.
Georgia’s State Security Service, in a statement published on Facebook, said it had arrested Bachiashvili near the country’s southern borders with Armenia and Azerbaijan after receiving an anonymous tip-off.
It said that Bachiashvili was under investigation for illegal border crossing. Authorities have said he fled Georgia in March by hiding inside a car before crossing into Armenia and then moving onto a third country.
Robert Amsterdam, one of Bachiashvili’s lawyers, said in a statement published on his firm’s website that Bachiashvili had been returned to Georgia “forcibly” and that he was at risk of torture.
The embezzlement charges related to a 2015 loan from Ivanishvili’s Cartu Bank, which Bachiashvili had sought to establish a cryptocurrency mining business.
The Georgian branch of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International has said that there is a lack of evidence against Bachiashvili, and that the case appears to reflect Ivanishvili’s financial interests.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s wealthiest man and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, is widely believed to wield significant behind-the-scenes influence over the country’s government. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, his administration has drawn criticism for distancing Georgia from its traditionally pro-Western stance and stalling European Union integration.
In December, he was sanctioned by the United States over a crackdown on protesters opposed to the Georgian government’s freezing of European Union accession talks until 2028.
The billionaire rarely appears in public, and has not commented on his former aide’s flight or subsequent arrest.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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