Ex-chair of Co-Investment Fund charged with embezzlement of Ivanishvili’s funds

Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of the Co-Investment Fund, on Thursday was charged with embezzlement of funds of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party and former prime minister. 

The case concerns the illegal appropriation of 8,253.13 bitcoins, and money laundering. 

The value of the Bitcoin was 39,215,820 USD at the time of appropriation, the Prosecutor General’s office said. 

Pointing to illegal surveillance, Bachiashvili claimed the charges were “unfounded”. 

“I am not guilty, I have never committed a crime, and therefore it is not at all clear why I am attending this trial. As for the cryptocurrency, this is a business.This is a normal business that I have been doing for more than 10 years. Therefore, I do not understand at all how this can be perceived as criminal or money laundering”, he said. 

A lawyer claimed Bachiashvili did not have a partner and the five million dollars, which, according to charges, Ivanishvili invested in cryptocurrency mining with Bachiashvili, was a loan and not an investment. He added, Bachiashvili later returned the five million dollars and additional interest.