The former General Director of the Co-Investment Fund, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is accused of misappropriating cryptocurrency belonging to the founder of Georgian Dream, has been sentenced to pretrial detention.
The decision was made by Tbilisi City Court Judge Giorgi Gelashvili.
At today’s hearing, the prosecutor requested the replacement of the previously imposed 2,500,000 GEL bail with imprisonment for Bachiashvili.
According to the prosecutor of the case, Mikheil Sadrazde, Giorgi Bachiashvili allegedly left the Georgian state border illegally on March 2.
Sadrazde stated that Bachiashvili had been deprived of his passport and ID and was prohibited from crossing the border without notifying the relevant authority.
The prosecutor argued that the accused violated the conditions of his bail and broke the law, justifying the need for stricter preventive measures.
As for Bachiashvili’s seized real estate and movable property, the prosecutor stated that, due to the bail violation, the enforcement authority should proceed with confiscating the property to recover the bail amount.
The defense did not agree with the motion to change the pretrial measure. Bachiashvili’s lawyer, Levan Makharashvili, explained that the accused had already been sentenced to imprisonment for illegal border crossing and that imposing another pretrial detention was not legally justified.
However, Judge Giorgi Gelashvili granted the prosecution’s motion. As a result, Bachiashvili's bail was replaced with detention. Since the bail had been secured with real estate, the court ruled that the property owned by the defendant and Aleksandre Bachiashvili would be seized to cover the 2,500,000 GEL bail.
For reference, the charges against Giorgi Bachiashvili relate to an incident from 2017. According to the prosecution, Bachiashvili handed over only $536,900 to an investor instead of the full profit from the investment, while unlawfully appropriating 8,986 bitcoins that belonged to the investor. At the time of misappropriation, these bitcoins were valued at approximately $43 million.
Bachiashvili denies the charges.
He was initially granted a bail of 2,500,000 GEL with additional restrictive measures.
The offense carries a prison sentence of 9 to 12 years.
Additionally, Bachiashvili faces charges in two other cases: the "Mtkvari HPP" case and illegal border crossing.
Regarding the "Mtkvari HPP" case, he has been charged under Article 220¹, Part 2 of the Georgian Criminal Code, which concerns failure or improper performance of official duties by a person with special authority, leading to severe consequences. This offense carries a prison sentence of 2 to 5 years.
Bachiashvili has also been charged with illegally crossing the Georgian state border, for which he has already been sentenced to pretrial detention.
