Former Ivanishvili Aide Giorgi Bachiashvili Arrested
Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former aide to Georgian Dream founder and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, was arrested, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) reported on May 27.
According to the official statement, “the SSSG received an anonymous tip” on May 26 alleging that Bachiashvili, a convicted dual citizen of Georgia and Russia, wanted under an Interpol Red Notice, has been spotted near the so-called “green border” between Red Bridge and Sadakhlo. This segment of Georgia’s border lies between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The agency stated that Bachiashvili was apprehended during joint investigative and operative-search efforts and thanked the Interior Ministry for its role in the arrest.
Bachiashvili’s international legal team issued a statement saying that he was “forcibly returned” to Georgia, where he “faces an immediate risk of torture.” It does not specify where he was “forcibly returned” from. His lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, denounced what he described as “the ongoing instrumentalization of domestic and international law and the abuse of mechanisms of international legal cooperation” in Georgia’s pursuit of Bachiashvili.
Bachiashvili, once a close associate of Ivanishvili and former head of the Georgian Co-Investment Fund, covertly left Georgia on March 9, citing fears of imminent imprisonment. He claimed that his life would be in danger if he were imprisoned, alleging that Ivanishvili had threatened to “crush” him in prison. His whereabouts outside Georgia have remained unknown. While in exile, his lawyer cited intelligence from two foreign agencies warning of an active plot to kill Bachiashvili. “Groups from the Northern Caucasus, most likely Chechens,” Bachiashvili told The Guardian in an interview published the night before his arrest.
The have been allegations that Georgian authorities had struck a deal with the United Arab Emirates to support the UAE’s candidate for Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization in exchange for Bachiashvili’s extradition. The UNWTO’s current chief, Zurab Pololikashvili of Georgia, whose candidacy had been dropped by the GD, declined to comment on the claim.
On March 10, one day after his departure, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Bachiashvili in absentia to 11 years in prison on charges of embezzling a large amount of cryptocurrency and money from Ivanishvili and laundering it. The case was initiated in 2023, a year after his fallout with Ivanishvili in 2022. He was ordered to post GEL 2.5 million (about USD 900,000) in bail and was banned from leaving Georgia.
In January 2025, Bachiashvili alleged that Ivanishvili had offered to drop the prosecution if he agreed to make regular payments in cryptocurrency.
In February 2025, prosecutors brought new charges against Bachiashvili for negligence that led to grave consequences while he was the general director of Ivanishvili’s co-investment fund. The court imposed an additional 50,000 GEL bail and upheld the travel ban.
After he fled Georgia, the authorities launched a new criminal case against him for illegally crossing the border. Shortly after his departure, State Security Service Chief Grigol Liluashvili stepped down with his term set to end this year. The Georgian Dream initially considered him for the newly created Ministry of Regional Development, but the nomination was later dropped. Some link his departure from the ruling party to the SSSG’s failure to prevent Bachiashvili’s escape.
Also Read:
- 01/05/2025 – Court Orders Ivanishvili’s Ex-Aide to Pay Nearly One Billion Dollars in Bitcoins
- 26/10/2024 – Interview with Giorgi Bachiashvili, Former Head of Ivanishvili’s Co-Investment Fund
- 13/03/2025 – Arrested Businessman Accuses Ivanishvili and GD of Connection with Russian Special Services
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