Georgian Prosecutor’s Office charges four over large-scale illegal production and storage of excise goods

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia on Saturday filed charges against four individuals in connection with the large-scale production and storage of goods without excise stamps.

The body said an investigation by the Financial Monitoring Service of the Ministry of Finance revealed the suspects had formed an organised criminal group to illegally gain financial profit.

The group owned a property in the city of Gori, including buildings and technical equipment, where they produced and stored filtered cigarettes without the mandatory excise stamps, intending to sell them later. To increase profits, the suspects primarily used the branding of well-known foreign cigarette labels.

Between September 16–19, authorities seized nearly 325,000 boxes of unstamped filtered cigarettes with a total market value exceeding ₾2,176,000 ($805,925) from the group’s main operational site.

The crime is punishable by seven to ten years of imprisonment.

The Prosecutor’s Office has petitioned the court to place the suspects in pre-trial detention.