Georgia appeal court upholds conviction of ex-investment fund chief in cryptocurrency case involving Ivanishvili

Georgia’s Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of former Co-Investment Fund chief Giorgi Bachiashvili, rejecting his appeal against a prison sentence over the alleged misappropriation of cryptocurrency belonging to ruling party founder and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The ruling, delivered on Tuesday by a panel of judges Paata Silagadze, Davit Mamiseishvili and Giorgi Kuratishvili, left in place the verdict of Tbilisi City Court, which in March sentenced Bachiashvili in absentia to 11 years in prison for the misappropriation of funds and money laundering. Prosecutors said he had unlawfully taken digital assets worth $39.2m.

The case was launched in 2023 after a complaint by Ivanishvili. Bachiashvili, who once served as the billionaire’s personal financial adviser, fled Georgia days before the verdict, crossing into Armenia illegally on 2 March, according to prosecutors. He was later charged over the unauthorised border crossing, as well as over a separate Mtkwari HPP case involving alleged failure to fulfil duties while heading the Co-Investment Fund.

In May, the City Court also ordered Bachiashvili to transfer nearly 9,000 bitcoins to Ivanishvili.

Authorities said he was arrested on 26 May near Georgia’s “green border” with Azerbaijan, after a tip-off to the State Security Service.

Bachiashvili disputes the official account, claiming he was abducted abroad on 24 May, blindfolded for two days, and flown back to Georgia on an Georgian Airways aircraft without legal procedures, access to his lawyer, or contact with his family.

The businessman is now in a Georgian prison.