Prosecutors Launch New Case Against Ivanishvili’s Former Aide Bachiashvili
The prosecutor’s office on February 25 filed new charges against Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former aide to Georgia’s ruling party patron Bidzina Ivanishvili, accusing him of negligence that led to grave consequences when he was general director of Ivanishvili’s co-investment fund.
On the same day, Tbilisi City Court Judge Lela Maridashvili imposed a bail of GEL 50,000 (approximately USD 18,000) on Bachiashvili, accepting the prosecutor’s request.
In a new case against Ivanishvili’s former financial advisor, the prosecutor’s office accuses him of failing to fulfill or inappropriately fulfilling his duties as general director of Ivanishvili’s co-investment fund, which Bachiashvili managed from 2013 to 2019. According to the prosecutor’s office, Giorgi Bachiashvili “did not take adequate and necessary measures” to prevent the risks and dangers with the Mtkvari HEP construction project, which ultimately failed.
Bachiashvili is charged under part 2 of Article 220 Prima on negligence of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which deals with failure to fulfill official duties resulting in “grave consequences” and carries a prison sentence of two to five years.
This is a second case against Bachiashvili involving Ivanishvili’s interests. In 2023, Bachiashvili was charged with allegedly embezzling 8,253 bitcoins worth USD 39,215,820 in 2017. He was later ordered to pay GEL 2.5 million and barred from leaving the country.
Bachiashvili considers the new case against him as “increased pressure” and “money extortion operation” against him. “The bail is not a new kind of pressure. It has already been two years since I have been banned from leaving the country, all my property and assets have been frozen,” Bachiashvili told journalists after yesterday’s decision.
“There was no formal basis for the use of preventive measures today. The analogous preventive measure has already been used against the defendant. He has already been banned from leaving the country, his passports have already been confiscated, and a bail of GEL 2.5 million has been imposed on him,” Bachiashvili’s lawyer Levan Makharashvili told journalists, referring to the other case against Bachiashvili.
Also Read:
- 24/01/2025 – Ivanishvili’s Former Investment Fund Manager Claims Political Persecution in Court
- 26/10/2024 – Interview with Giorgi Bachiashvili, Former Head of Ivanishvili’s Co-Investment Fund
- 24/07/2023 – Report: Why Does Ivanishvili Prosecute His Former Financial Prodigy?
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