Ruling party MP rejects claims former investment fund head was political prisoner

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, Archil Gorduladze, has dismissed allegations that Giorgi Bachiashvili, former head of the Co-Investment Fund, was a political prisoner.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Gorduladze said that once Bachiashvili understood that evading responsibility was impossible, he fully cooperated with the investigation, and all legally prescribed measures were applied.

Gorduladze accused foreign actors, including representatives of BBC, of spreading misinformation. He claimed that media reports and a documentary portraying Bachiashvili as a “political prisoner” were false and part of a broader effort to politicize individual criminal cases for ulterior motives. “Everyone lied. Everyone misrepresented the facts when calling Bachiashvili a political prisoner,” he said.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Bachiashvili entered into a plea agreement, fully admitting his guilt in all criminal cases, cooperating with investigators, and compensating for the damages caused. Under the agreement, he received a suspended sentence and a fine.

Bachiashvili, the former head of the Georgian Co‑Investment Fund and once a close associate of billionaire and ruling party honorary chair Bidzina Ivanishvili, was arrested in connection with high‑profile criminal cases involving large‑scale financial crimes.

He was accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin from an investment meant for a cryptocurrency mining venture - with prosecutors saying he kept approximately 8,253 bitcoins (valued at about $39 million at the time) instead of returning them to Ivanishvili. 

He was also charged with money laundering connected to the same scheme.

These accusations were part of a criminal investigation that began in 2023 when prosecutors alleged misuse and misappropriation of investor funds.