Georgian court orders ex-financier advisor to pay $850 mln in bitcoin to Ivanishvili

A Georgian court on Thursday ordered Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of the Co-Investment Fund, to repay 9,000 bitcoins – currently valued at approximately $850 million – to former Prime Minister and ruling Georgian Dream party honorary chair Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The ruling, handed down by Judge Zaal Maruashvili, fully upheld Ivanishvili’s claim that Bachiashvili had embezzled vast sums of cryptocurrency during his tenure as his personal financier. If the bitcoins cannot be recovered, the court ordered that Bachiashvili’s personal assets be sold to compensate for the loss.

Bachiashvili’s lawyer has seven days to file an appeal, but the enforcement of the ruling is not suspended during that period. His assets – along with those of individuals not formally involved in the case – have already been frozen by court order.

The legal case stems from a 2023 complaint by Ivanishvili, with prosecutors later accusing Bachiashvili of misappropriating $39 million in crypto funds. In March 2025, Tbilisi City Court found Bachiashvili guilty of embezzlement and money laundering, sentencing him to 11 years in prison in absentia. Authorities say he fled Georgia on 2 March, crossing the border into Armenia illegally.

Bachiashvili is also facing additional charges linked to the Mtkvari HPP energy project, with prosecutors alleging misconduct during his time as director of Ivanishvili’s investment fund.