Country flees amid embezzlement of Bitcoin as aide to former Georgian prime minister

Bachiashvili had previously been given bail of 2.5 million gers ($900,000), but the Georgia Department of Home Affairs reports that investors crossed the border to Armenia on March 2, violating the conditions of bail.

Justice Giorgi Gelashvili supported the prosecution’s allegations to detain Bachiashvili, saying bail violations justify stricter detention measures.

According to Georgian TV channels TV PirveliBatiashvili is currently in a third country, and entrepreneurs refuse to tell Reuters His current location.

He has been accused of embezzling 8,253.13 BTC between 2015 and 2017 and invested a $5 million loan (using Ivanishvili’s personal funds) in a Bitcoin mining operation via Bitfury.

Ivanishvili claims that he and Bachiashvili have agreed to liquidate Bitcoin mined in late 2016 following discussions about the stability of the cryptocurrency market.

Bachiashvili repaid the loan to the issuer (Cartu Bank owned by Ivanishvili) in August and September 2016, and about a year later transferred $536,900 to the bank’s director, Nato Khaindrava.

However, Ivanisvili claims that Batiashvili misunderstood him about the true return of the mining operation, claiming that the bitcoin it mined was worth millions of dollars.

As a result, Baciashvili was charged under sections 182 and 194 of the Georgia criminal code.

Bachiashvili was once an aide to Ivanishvili, who had an estimated wealth of $7.6 billion, or a quarter of Georgia’s GDP.

Ivanishvili was called the “real ruler” of the country by Transparent International, who founded the Rule George and Ream Party in 2012 and is now serving as the “honorary chairman.”

Transparency International argues that the lawsuit against Batiashvili “clearly and explicitly reflects Ivanishvili’s private interests,” and that “the weakness in the prosecution’s position and lack of evidence in this case are very clear that such accusations are not only unrecognizable in the legal system based on the rule of law, but also do not even reach the progress of the court.

In writing in the same report on the case, the NGO points out Batiashvili’s position. This is what Ivanishvili advised to get a loan from Cartu Bank.

The only non-testimonial evidence in the case includes documents relating to the loan and records of telephone discussions regarding the same loan. Ivanishvili advises Batiashvili to overcome the bank’s doubts by offering to pay higher interest rates.

Thus, Transparency International concludes that the accusations against Batiashvili “have no both legal and de facto basis.” This is a view shared by the legal agents of investors, London and Washington, DC-based Amsterdam & Partners.

During the first hearing of the case in March 2024, senior partner Robert Amsterdam described the case as a “tragedy” of a legitimate process.

“The state appears to be acting in violation of the law at Ivanishvili’s whimsical wishes,” he said. “It is unreliable to claim that Ivanishvili is paying money from an 8-year-old repayment bank loan without evidence and pursue the matter in a criminal charge instead of a civil lawsuit.”

Bachiashvili will face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.

He said he is being accused of punishment for publicly supporting Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia. He believes he made Ivanishvili uncomfortable in Russia.

Edited by Andrew Hayward