Giorgi Bachiashvili has filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal against the Tbilisi City Court’s decision ordering him to pay 9,000 bitcoins to Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of Georgian Dream. According to Bachiashvili’s lawyer, Levan Makharashvili, the appeal was submitted at the end of June.
The original verdict mandates that if Bachiashvili fails to return the specified bitcoins, his personal assets will be liquidated based on the current bitcoin value to satisfy the claim.
Makharashvili stated that the prosecutor’s office responded after the complaint was accepted and that a hearing is typically scheduled within a month. However, due to July and August holidays, the hearing might not occur until September.
He expressed confidence in their strong legal position and indicated readiness to exhaust all domestic legal remedies before potentially appealing to the European Court of Human Rights if the verdict is upheld.
Regarding allegations related to Bachiashvili’s kidnapping, Makharashvili noted that Bachiashvili has not been questioned about the matter and, as they are not parties to that investigation, they have no access to related materials.
The case dates back to 2017, when Bachiashvili, then head of a co-investment fund, was accused of misappropriating a significant portion of Ivanishvili’s cryptocurrency investment. Investigators claim Bachiashvili transferred only about USD 536,900 to Ivanishvili while allegedly illicitly retaining approximately 8,253 bitcoins valued then at over USD 39 million.
