State Security Service: 5 arrested, 14 charged in large-scale anti-corruption operation

Georgia’s State Security Service on Friday announced that five individuals had been arrested and a total of 14 charged in connection with corruption-related offenses uncovered during a large-scale operation conducted across several regions of the country.

The body added the Anti-Corruption Agency had carried out coordinated operations involving six separate criminal cases, exposing schemes that included bribery, forgery, fraud and abuse of official authority.

• School director arrested for bribe in exchange for issuing diploma

The first case involves the director of Public School No. 4 in Marneuli, in eastern Georgia, who allegedly demanded $300 from a citizen in exchange for facilitating exam results required to obtain a high school diploma. The crime is punishable by six to nine years in prison.

• Shuakhevi Municipal employee charged with assisting in bribe taking

A staff member of the Shuakhevi Municipality was arrested for requesting ₾3,000-₾1,500 ($1,111-$555) of which was received in advance - to replace a previously issued geological report needed for a ₾50,000 ($18,520) co-financing scheme under the eco-migrant housing programme.

• Three arrested for fraud and use of forged documents

In the capital city of Tbilisi and the eastern town of Sagarejo, three individuals were detained for fraudulently obtaining ₾89,727 ($33,236) by manipulating a municipal tender, fabricating inspection reports, and submitting falsified documentation.

• Forgery in municipal construction project – three charged

The directors of Logi and S.K. 2000, along with a supervisor from the Tbilisi Municipal Laboratory, were charged for falsifying documents related to a ₾572,907 ($212,213) sewage construction project in the Mukhiani district. Although the documents indicated transportation of 3,738 cubic meters of soil to a licensed landfill, the soil was dumped into a nearby ravine. As a result, ₾104,290 ($38,630) was illicitly paid out.

• Former Adjara Supreme Council employee charged with bribe taking

A former employee of the Adjara Supreme Council’s office demanded a ₾3,000 ($1,111) bribe, ₾2,000 ($740.83) of which was already received, in exchange for assisting in leasing two state-owned land plots in Kobuleti.

• Two charged in Ozurgeti for Bribery and facilitating illegal land use

A former representative of the Ozurgeti Mayor’s Office in the village of Natanebi in western Georgia and a current audit department specialist are accused of demanding ₾4,000- ₾2,000 ($1481.66-$740.83) received in advance - from a citizen for allowing unauthorised use of a 517 sq. m state-owned coastal land plot.