The Prosecutor`s Office of Georgia has arrested the director of Sando LLC and the inspector of the National Center for Forensic Expertise, Architecture and Construction LLC for improper performance of official duties, and one person has been charged with exerting influence over an interrogated person.

The investigation conducted by the Investigation Department of the Western Georgia Regional Prosecutor`s Office established that the director of Sando LLC, when compiling the design documentation for the damaged retaining wall adjacent to the multi-apartment residential buildings on Shota Rustaveli Street in Baghdati, did not take into account the data of the engineering and geological survey and, despite the fact that it should have been compiled based on the complexity of the geological conditions, in June 2024, the project for the retaining wall’s landslide prevention structure was compiled in a project that was inconsistent with the geological report data and the situation on the ground. The inspector of the National Center for Forensic Expertise, Architecture and Construction LLC gave a positive assessment to the structural part of the inconsistent project, after which the project was handed over to the Baghdati Municipality City Hall.

Considering that the project for the retaining wall landslide protection structure was not prepared by Sando LLC, the executing organization carried out the works under the conditions of an inappropriate project, which resulted in the inappropriate spending of 756,198 GEL belonging to the state, causing serious consequences for the Baghdati Municipality City Hall and creating a threat of residential buildings being dragged into landslide processes.

The investigation also revealed that a family member of one of the founders of Sando LLC influenced a person questioned as a witness to provide false information to the investigation regarding the geological survey data.

The detainees are charged under Part 2 of Article 220 Prima of the Criminal Code of Georgia (negligence that led to grave consequences), which provides for up to 5 years of imprisonment as a form and measure of punishment. One person was charged under Part 1 of Article 372 (influencing a person under investigation), which provides for up to 3 years of imprisonment as a form and measure of punishment.

The Prosecutor`s Office shall apply to the court for the imposition of a preventive measure on the defendants within the time limit established by law.