The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has charged four individuals with extortion of a particularly large amount of money committed by a group.

The investigation conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed that the accused systematically demanded various amounts of money from the victim. They demanded that a specific amount be transferred to them, otherwise they threatened to harm his health and damage the so-called “Zipline” located in the village of Makhuntseti, Keda Municipality, which was owned by him. Due to the pressure they exerted, the operation of the so-called “Zipline” was suspended several times. Given the threats and criminal actions carried out by the accused, the victim was forced to transfer a total of 187,297 GEL to them at different times.

Law enforcement officers seized the narcotic drug “Methadone” (base) during a search of one of the defendants.

The defendants, including one of them, were charged in absentia under Article 181, Part 2, Subparagraphs “a” and “c” of the Criminal Code of Georgia (extortion committed in a group for the purpose of obtaining a large amount of property), and one person was also charged under Article 260, Part 1 (illegal purchase and possession of narcotic drugs), which provides for up to 7 years of imprisonment as a form and measure of punishment.

Based on the prosecutor’s office’s motion, two individuals were sentenced to imprisonment as a preventive measure, and two were granted bail in the amount of 10,000 - 10,000 GEL.