The court found Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and Avtandil Tsereteli guilty and sentenced them to 7 years in prison, however, exempted them from criminal charges. Judge Giorgi Arevadze announced the verdict at the trial held today.
The Court also re-qualified the initial charges of money laundering to Article 180 (2a, 3b) of the Criminal Code, involving fraud committed by more than one person and in large quantities.
According to Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and Avtandil Tsereteli, they will appeal against this decision and will fight for its abolition.
“As for today's decision, the falsity we heard from the judge is very clear. We were accused of money laundering 12 years ago, in 2008, and suddenly this article disappeared, and 4 years later, in 2012, it turns out that we committed fraud, which has not even been investigated, neither the victim nor the complainant has been identified. This is nonsense, this is a court that we and the society must dismantle.
Our country cannot move forward in the condition of such a court and justice, which is ruled by one-man and it will be finished soon, because Georgian people cannot tolerate unfair court and justice. If there is no justice, there will be no peace in the country until every citizen has a sense that his or her rights and dignity is protected by an independent and impartial judiciary.
I confirm that this fight will continue and we will appeal against this decision . It is a matter of principle and dignity. I promise I will continue to fight with my teammates for the best future of the country. This country has a huge prospect, which is now closed, hidden, scared. We have to wake it up, we have to unite and make Georgia a successful country," Mamuka Khazaradze said.
Badri Japaridze, one of the leaders of political party Lelo Georgia stated that this fight is worth for the better future of our country.
"This fight is worth for what we are going through, because it is a fight for a better future for our country. What we have seen is a continuation of the fraud that the prosecution has been committing throughout this period, as it is clear that there has never been any sign of money laundering or crime. The judge announced the verdict, he changed the article of money laundering, reclassified it to the article that applies to statute of limitations and released us from any liability, however, the old article sentenced us to 7 years, but because statute of limitations, it exempted us of from liability.
We will appeal this decision because we do not agree with it, no crime was committed, there is no sign of crime, it was a fight to save the most important financial institution for our country, which we have saved and made it a success story of our country, we will achieve the same in politics.
Our country will become a success story in the region. The fight continues, we will appeal against this decision and bring the fight to an end to establish the truth," Badri Japaridze said.
Avtandil Tsereteli, founder of TV Pirvli, was found guiltyas well and sentenced to 7 years in prison, but his sentence was revoked due to his seniority, therefore, Avtandil Tsereteli was not sentenced to imprisonment.
Announcing to the judge, the case had been reclassified and the money laundering article had been changed to fraud.
Avtandil Tsereteli himself made the first comment after the verdict was announced by the judge.
“Initially, I was accused in money laundering, now it turns out that I have also become a swindler. I was sentenced to 7 years in presentment, for what they do not know themselves. This decision will definitely be appealed. We have to fight, "said Avtandil Tsereteli.
After the trial, the prosecutor Archil Tkeshelashvili declared that after reviewing the operative part of the verdict, the prosecution would decide whether the decision will be appealed.
"We will receive a verdict from the court and then we will decide on the issue of appealing against this verdict. Our evidence was sufficient to convict the accused persons. All three accused persons were found guilty of rather serious crimes.
The court shared all the evidence presented by us, otherwise they would not announce this verdict. However, The court gave a different assessment of our qualification and changed the charges in the qualification part," the prosecutor said.
The Prosecutor’s Office launched the probe into money laundering against Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, founders of TBC Bank in 2019. Prosecutors argued that the bank loaned about USD 16 754 000 million in April and May of 2008 to Samgori Trade and Samgori M, owned by Avtandil Tsereteli. According to the investigation, Tsereteli funneled the money back to Khazaradze and Japaridze, while the loan itself was written off in 2012.
