Money laundering case in Georgia: opposition looks for a Russian connection
Money laundering in Georgia
Georgia’s prosecutor’s office has announced the arrest of a man accused of laundering 624 million dollars and 35 million euros between 2022 and 2024. His identity has not been officially disclosed, but the TV channel Pirveli claims the detainee is the director of the company Fini, Kakha Kotorashvili.
According to investigators, the suspect, acting with a criminal group, regularly brought foreign currency of undocumented origin into the country, using hidden compartments in vehicles to bypass customs checks. The money was then channelled into his currency exchange office.
Investigators say the detainee also deposited foreign currency obtained in this way into banks, presenting it as legitimate income and providing false documents to prove its origin.
The funds were then converted and channelled into the legal economy, either by being handed over to others and resold, or through the purchase of real estate and other property.
Money laundering on such a scale carries a prison sentence of up to 12 years.
Looking for a Russian connection
Pirveli TV suggests that the detainee — believed to be Kakha Kotorashvili — and his company were only intermediaries, while the money belonged to someone else.
The opposition believes the foreign currency was most likely brought into Georgia from Russia, and that it amounts to laundering “criminal Russian money.”
Political analyst Gia Khukhashvili shares this view, arguing that the Georgian government was aware of what was happening all along.
“This was Russia’s economic expansion through black money, a successful FSB operation,” Khukhashvili told the news agency Palitranews.
He said the government and all relevant institutions were responsible for laundering “an unprecedented volume of Russian money in Georgia.” Khukhashvili also suggested the National Bank and commercial banks were involved.
Salome Samadashvili, an opposition MP from the Lelo party, went further, saying the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, had “turned Georgia into a laundromat for dirty Russian money.” She argued the crime was ordered at the highest political level.
One of Lelo’s founders, Mamuka Khazaradze, is also a co-founder of TBC Bank, one of Georgia’s largest commercial banks.
Money laundering in Georgia
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