Prosecution Service of Georgia has launched criminal proceedings against ten individuals on charges of fraud committed by an organised group in connection with so-called call centres, and of money laundering.

“The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has uncovered yet another large-scale call centre criminal operation and has initiated criminal proceedings against ten individuals on charges of fraud and money laundering carried out by an organized group.

Charges are being brought in absentia against the fugitive former Prosecutor General, Otar Partskhladze, and members of his criminal network – David Mikadze, Irakli Sekhniashvili, and Mikheil Chokheli. Giorgi Mikadze, who is currently serving a sentence in a custodial institution in connection with a separate criminal case, will be formally served with the charge sheet in person. Organised criminal group member Eliso Kiladze has been arrested in the same criminal case. Charges are also being brought against other members of the group, Givi Jibladze, Ben Anor, Tornike Janelidze, and Giorgi Kamladze, who have actively cooperated with the investigation, not only admitting to the offences committed but making a material contribution to the uncovering of this transnational criminal enterprise.

We remind the public that, as we stated at a previous briefing, between 2020 and 2023, despite the Georgian state’s declared legal efforts to combat this activity, several dozen fraudulent call centres continued to operate in the country. According to witness testimony, the vast majority of these call centres belonged to a group of individuals who used the proceeds to fund various opposition media outlets, whilst a smaller number of call centres operated under the patronage of Grigol Liluashvili [former Head of State Security Service] and Otar Partskhladze, acting through members of their immediate circles.

In the course of this investigation, conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Investigative Service of the Ministry of Finance, it has been established that between 2020 and 2023, an organized criminal group of a structured, coordinated character operated in Georgia under the patronage of O. Partskhladze, to unlawfully obtain material gain and subsequently launder the proceeds.

Members of the organized group established several legal entities in Georgia, based on which they set up fraudulent call centres at various locations across Tbilisi, operating Russian-language, English-language, and German-language divisions. Acting on the instructions of those in leadership positions, call centre operators lured victims to bogus trading platforms, induced them to invest by promising profitable returns, then fraudulently misappropriated large sums of money and cryptocurrency belonging to those victims, before proceeding to place, layer, and integrate the illicit assets.

The roles of organized group members encompassed: ensuring the smooth day-to-day operation of the criminal call centres; shielding the unlawful activity from law enforcement and rival organizations; providing media cover in the event of exposure; and, where necessary, arranging the exposure of ‘non-compliant competitors’. Specifically, Givi Jibladze, Ben Anor, Tornike Janelidze, and Giorgi Kamladze were responsible for the operational running of the call centres, making decisions regarding their expansion or relocation, actively overseeing business processes, maintaining records of income and expenditure, administering salaries and bonuses, and calculating and distributing funds to be paid to partners and patrons.

Other members of organized group, G. Mikadze, D. Mikadze, I. Sekhniashvili, and M. Chokheli, used O. Partskhladze’s influence and connections to protect the call centres’ criminal operations, shielding them from law enforcement intervention and from interference by rival organizations. They were also involved in making key decisions necessary for call centres functioning.

It is notable that whenever the call centre’s operations risked being exposed, or where such a risk existed, E. Kiladze ensured the criminal activity was presented as legitimate by disseminating appropriate narratives across various media platforms. At the same time, with a view to exposing competitor call centres that lay outside their sphere of influence, Kiladze planned, threatened, or carried out the public disclosure of those rivals’ locations and staff details, subsequently creating the conditions to bring them to heel through blackmail. For these services, the provision of influence and media cover, those involved received a substantial monthly cut from the sums fraudulently obtained from non-resident victims.

Based on the findings of the investigation thus far, between 2020 and 2023, members of the organized group have fraudulently misappropriated cryptocurrency belonging to over two hundred foreign nationals, with a total value of approximately USD 9.5 million. The virtual assets stolen from victims were subsequently layered through multiple transactions across various cryptocurrency wallets controlled by members of the organized criminal group, to launder the proceeds. The cash obtained through the conversion of those virtual assets was used to meet the organized criminal group’s operational needs, paying salaries and bonuses and covering the running costs of the call centres.

Furthermore, funds accumulated through the criminal enterprise were directed by group members towards the purchase of movable and immovable property, presented as though legitimately earned income.

The charges brought against O. Partskhladze, G. Mikadze, D. Mikadze, I. Sekhniashvili, M. Chokheli, E. Kiladze, G. Jibladze, Ben Anor, T. Janelidze, and G. Kamladze under Articles 180 and 194 of the Criminal Code of Georgia carry a custodial sentence of between 9 and 12 years.

The Prosecution Service of Georgia will apply to the court within the statutory time limit seeking remand in custody for E. Kiladze, G. Mikadze, and the fugitive defendants, O. Partskhladze, D. Mikadze, I. Sekhniashvili, and M. Chokheli, and, taking into account the degree of their cooperation with the investigation, seeking bail for G. Jibladze, Ben Anor, T. Janelidze, and G. Kamladze. The investigation and international cooperation in this case are ongoing, intending to identify further individuals involved in the offences, establish the identities of additional victims, and secure new evidence”, - says the agency.