The Tbilisi City Court on Monday sentenced Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former personal financier of billionaire and ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, to 11 years in prison in absentia over a high-profile cryptocurrency case.
Bachiashvili was convicted of embezzling 8,253.13 bitcoins – worth $39.2 million in 2017 – from Ivanishvili and laundering illicit funds.
Georgian prosecutors brought charges against him in October 2023, leading to a bail of 2.5 million GEL and a travel restriction.
Judge Giorgi Gelashvili delivered the ruling, imposing the maximum sentence under the charges. Bachiashvili received 10 years for embezzlement and 11 years for money laundering, with the court upholding the harsher penalty.
Bachiashvili, who fled Georgia on March 2, was denied the opportunity to make a final statement in court.
The prosecution claimed he had been preparing his escape for several months. The Georgian authorities have contacted Interpol, requesting a red notice for his arrest.
Prosecutor Mikheil Sadradze confirmed on March 6 that Interpol had been informed of Bachiashvili’s fugitive status. However, his lawyer, Levan Makharashvili, said that an Interpol notice did not automatically result in extradition. “Interpol is obliged to detain him if he approaches a border, but separate legal procedures determine his potential arrest,” Makharashvili said.
Bachiashvili has maintained his innocence and claimed that the case against him was politically motivated. He argued that Ivanishvili, who currently serves as an honorary chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party he founded for the 2012 general elections, was not an investor in their disputed financial dealings but merely facilitated a loan arrangement.
In addition to the cryptocurrency-related allegations, Bachiashvili has faced further charges.
The authorities claimed he had crossed the Georgian-Armenian border clandestinely on March 2, leading to the revocation of his bail and the issuance of an arrest warrant.
He has also been charged with failure to fulfill official duties during his tenure as General Director of Ivanishvili’s Co-Investment Fund, an allegation that was initially included in the cryptocurrency case but formally brought against him on February 25, 2025.
For years, Bachiashvili was considered one of Ivanishvili’s closest financial advisors. He played a crucial role in managing the billionaire’s business operations in Georgia and Russia and was instrumental in uncovering discrepancies in Swiss bank Credit Suisse’s handling of Ivanishvili’s finances.
His testimony in Singapore on September 9, 2022 supported Ivanishvili’s claims in a high-profile dispute with the bank.
