Eight charged in alleged ₾17.4m Georgian Railway corruption scheme, ex-director wanted

Georgia's State Security Service on Tuesday said eight people have been charged in connection with an alleged corruption and fraud scheme involving Georgian Railway, while former director Davit Peradze has been charged in absentia and will be placed on a wanted list.

At a briefing, the agency's Anti-Corruption Agency alleged that an organised criminal group fraudulently appropriated 22,120 tonnes of scrap metal belonging to Georgian Railway between 2020 and 2021.

According to investigators, the metal was subsequently sold for ₾17.39 million after its origin had been concealed through allegedly falsified documentation and a network of companies linked to the scheme.

The State Security Service alleged that Peradze established the operation in 2019 while serving as the railway company's director general, recruiting company officials and business associates to facilitate the removal, transport, processing and sale of railway-owned scrap metal.

Investigators said contracts awarded through public tenders were used to support the scheme, while false accounting and tax documents were allegedly created to give the metal a legitimate origin before it was sold to a private steel producer.

The agency also announced separate allegations linked to a railway infrastructure contract signed in 2022. Prosecutors claimed that records relating to rail welding works were falsified, enabling a contractor to receive an additional ₾403,844 beyond the value of work actually completed.

The suspects face charges including large-scale fraud committed by an organised group, money laundering, document forgery and related offences. According to the State Security Service, the crimes carry prison sentences of between nine and 12 years if convictions are secured.

Authorities said two suspects, including Peradze, have been charged in absentia and will be subject to search procedures.