The court granted bail in the sum of GEL 2,500,000 to Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of the Georgian Co-Investment Fund, for misappropriation of a “large amount’ of cryptocurrency and money laundering. Defendant has 30 days to pay.
The accused, who attended today’s session, stated that he did not plead guilty.
A foreign entity provided mining services to a Bachiashvili-owned company under a one-year contract for $6.3 million, which included a $5 million investment and a $1.33 million from Bachiashvili.
The scheme produced 24,661.85 bitcoins over the course of a year, resulting in a profit of 8,253.13 bitcoins, which the accused took in 2017, with just USD 536,900 remitted to the investor as their share of the profit. The amount of appropriated bitcoins hit over USD 39 million, the POG explained.
Bachiashvili is facing between nine and 12 years in prison if found guilty.
