Prosecution opens case against parents of Ivanishvili’s former financier Bachiashvili over money laundering

 Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office has launched a criminal investigation against the parents of former Co-Investment Fund head Giorgi Bachiashvili, who was convicted in the so-called cryptocurrency case, for allegedly assisting in the laundering of illegally obtained funds from Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and honorary chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party. 

Authorities on Monday said that between 2017 and 2023, Bachiashvili, with his parents’ help, laundered roughly $2.94 million and 1.1 million Georgian lari obtained through criminal activity. If convicted, his parents could face seven to twelve years in prison.

The prosecution alleged that Bachiashvili misappropriated nearly 8,987 bitcoins belonging to Ivanishvili during a 2015-2017 mining investment, failing to transfer the virtual assets to investors, and then laundered the proceeds through domestic accounts controlled by him and his parents.

“The accused, with the assistance of A.B. and M.R., facilitated the transfer, accumulation, and integration of illicit assets into the financial system while concealing their origin, location, movement, and ownership,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.

Bachiashvili was convicted by Tbilisi City Court on 10 March 2025 for large-scale cryptocurrency misappropriation and money laundering. He secretly left Georgia after the conviction and was arrested by the State Security Service on 27 May, as the agency claimed, near the country’s green zone border. However, his lawyers claimed Bachiashvili had been in the United Arab Emirates before being “forcibly and illegally” returned to Georgia.

The original investigation into Bachiashvili, who served as Ivanishvili’s financial advisor, was opened in 2023 following a statement by the billionaire founder of the Co-Investment Fund.