Court: ex-Defense Minister Kezerashvili, another ex-UNM official must return 5mln EUR

Court: ex-Defense Minister Kezerashvili, another ex-UNM official must return 5mln EUR

The Tbilisi City Court has fully upheld the claim of the Georgian Ministry of Defense and judged that former Minister of Defense David Kezerashvili, who is wanted by Georgian law enforcers and currently lives in the UK, and  former head of the Procurement Department of the ministry Aleksandre Ninua must return 5,060,000 Euros to the ministry which they had embezzled while in office under the United National Movement government. 


Both were charged with abuse of power and embezzlement of state funds last year which Kezerashvili, who owns the opposition-minded FormulaTV  a channel in Georgia, says are politically grounded. 


Kezerashvili was a close ally of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili before he came to power in 2003. 


He retired from politics back in 2008 and is dubbed as the wealthiest former official.





The Tbilisi City Court has fully upheld the claim of the Georgian Ministry of Defense and judged that former Minister of Defense David Kezerashvili, who is wanted by Georgian law enforcers and currently lives in the UK, and  former head of the Procurement Department of the ministry Aleksandre Ninua must return 5,060,000 Euros to the ministry which they had embezzled while in office under the United National Movement government. 


Both were charged with abuse of power and embezzlement of state funds last year which Kezerashvili, who owns the opposition-minded FormulaTV  a channel in Georgia, says are politically grounded. 


Kezerashvili was a close ally of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili before he came to power in 2003. 


He retired from politics back in 2008 and is dubbed as the wealthiest former official.