Two charged over fraud involving state-funded milk supplies for Georgian kindergartens

The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against two individuals for embezzling a large sum of money through abuse of official position.

The Ministry of Finance’s Investigative Service on Friday said the heads of several companies had supplied low-calorie, low-cost dairy products to municipal pre-school and non-school educational institutions in violation of the terms of state procurement contracts. The Prosecutor’s Office said this allowed the accused to fraudulently obtain approximately 20,000 Georgian lari belonging to the state.

The two are charged under Article 180(2)(b) and (3)(a) and (b) of the Georgian Criminal Code, covering fraud committed through abuse of official position with a large amount of money. Conviction under these provisions carries a sentence of up to nine years in prison.

The Prosecutor’s Office added that it will request the court to apply preventive measures against the accused within the timeframe prescribed by law.