Tbilisi City Court to hold final hearing on $16.7 mln laundering case involving Lelo leaders

Tbilisi City Court will hold a final hearing today into the $16.7 million money laundering case involving co-founders of Georgian TBC Bank and current leaders of Lelo opposition party Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze. 

Both suspects say that ‘no laundering’ took place back in 2008 as the country’s Prosecutor’s Office say this, and that they were charged as the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili wanted to hamper the building of Anaklia deep sea port in western Georgia. 

Khazaradze says that the building of the port aimed to strengthen Georgia’s geopolitical role and was against Russian interests. 

Khazaradze was one of the major actors for the construction. 

He and Japaridze were officially charged in the case in the summer of 2019 and only after they decided to enter politics. 

Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria says there is no evidence pointing at signs of money laundering in the case. 

Opposition fears that Khazaradze and Japaridze may be arrested.