On Thursday, July 6, 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia filed politically motivated charges against George Bachiashvili alleging “misappropriation” and “legalization of illegal income” related to a cryptocurrency mining investment dating all the way back to 2015. The claimant in the matter was later revealed to be the billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The basis for the case is however entirely fictional, based on Ivanishvili’s own single witness statement, and further contradicted by the very loan agreement cited in the charges. Read the press coverage and statements by the legal team here.

The key facts are as follows: In 2015, George Bachiashvili approached Cartu Bank, which is partly owned by Ivanishvili, to secure a $5 million loan, which he invested along with $1.3 million of his own capital in a technology startup. The loan was fully repaid to the bank with in accordance with the loan agreement, fulfilling all contractual obligations. Bachiashvili has never at any point entered into any form of partnership with Ivanishvili. And yet, many years later, and with a total absence of evidence, Ivanishvili is attempting to claim a fully repaid loan represented an “investment.”

The false charges brought against Bachiashvili, based primarily on a single witness testimony of the claimant himself, Bidzina Ivanishvili, are unprecedented for a rule of law country, indicating profound levels of corruption, state capture, and oligarchic control over independent institutions of the state.

The Bachiashvili case sends a clear and resounding warning signal to foreign investors, as well allies and partners like the European Union, United States, and international community. When Bidzina’s law can be used to force prosecutors and courts to do this, then no one in Georgia is safe.