Georgian scam call centres: old fraudsters, new address? An investigation
Georgian scam call centres that came under the spotlight during an international investigative project in 2025 have reportedly resumed operations from a new location. According to the investigative outlet Monitor, people linked to AK Group have relocated to an office at 68 Mirian Mepe Street in Tbilisi.
The outlet says its journalists conducted covert surveillance at the address for six months. They say they identified several of the same individuals who had been seen near AK Group’s previous office last year. According to Monitor, the footage also shows some of the same vehicles that regularly appeared at the company’s former location.
Journalists say they repeatedly spotted vehicles used by Akaki Kevkhishvili, who is widely believed to be the real operator of AK Group. The cars carried the registration numbers AK100KK and AK200KK. Investigators seized one of them in 2025 as part of the ongoing criminal investigation.
According to Monitor, AK Group’s registered owner and director, Meri Shotadze, also regularly visited the same address. She used two different vehicles, one of which investigators have also seized, while the other is registered to another person.
The investigation also claims that several agents who previously worked at AK Group’s former office have reappeared at the new location. They include Anzhelika Chkhapelia, who allegedly used the alias Marina Novikova; Misha Bayramov; Valerian Gigauri; Giorgi Gotman; and Ketevan Malashkhia, who allegedly used the alias Ashley Moriarty. According to Monitor, Malashkhia is a cousin of Akaki Kevkhishvili’s wife. The outlet also identified a Belarusian citizen, Lita, who had previously denied working at the call centre.
The journalists also say they identified security staff at the new office who had previously been seen outside AK Group’s former premises. They named former law enforcement officer Manuchar Gegia and former Zugdidi traffic police chief Levan Gogia.
According to the outlet, the office on Mirian Mepe Street closed after it announced the publication of its latest investigation. Both floors of the building are now being offered for rent.
Monitor says the premises had been leased since 2022 by RTM Imports, a company owned by Irakli Kvlividze, the brother of Akaki Kevkhishvili’s wife.
The journalists say they informed the Prosecutor’s Office on 1 July 2026 that AK Group’s managers and employees had been regularly operating from the office at 68 Mirian Mepe Street. According to Monitor, prosecutors have not clarified whether they investigated the information or whether the inquiry into the alleged fraud is still ongoing.
Background
In 2025, Monitor and more than 32 international media organisations published an investigation into AK Group’s activities. According to the report, the group employed 85 people and defrauded more than 6,100 people across Europe and Canada between 2022 and 2025. The journalists estimated that the operation generated more than $35 million in revenue over that period.
After the investigation was published, law enforcement authorities opened a criminal inquiry into organised fraud and the laundering of proceeds from crime on an especially large scale. Prosecutors have charged 11 people in the case.
In a separate bribery case, authorities also arrested former Georgian State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili. Prosecutors accuse him, in one of the counts, of providing protection to the call centres. A court has also frozen the assets and company shares of the alleged organisers and employees of the call centre network.
Investigation continues
According to Monitor, the Prosecutor’s Office told the outlet that it had requested legal assistance from Germany to help identify potential victims. Prosecutors also said they had sought additional information from journalists involved in the investigation, but claimed they had declined to cooperate.
In a written response, the Prosecutor’s Office said that “the final decision in the case largely depends on information and materials to be obtained from abroad through legal assistance.”
A separate Monitor investigation found that Akaki Kevkhishvili and Meri Shotadze had previously worked at another call centre, 100 Marketing Solutions. Authorities began investigating the company in 2023 and froze its shares as part of the inquiry. However, a court lifted the freeze in 2026.
Are Georgian scam call centres still operating?
