The Georgian Dream Prosecutor's Office has reached a plea agreement with former Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili, who was charged with legalizing a significant amount of illegal income. He was initially facing a sentence of 9 to 12 years in prison but has now been sentenced to 5 years following the plea deal. Garibashvili was arrested in the courtroom.
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On January 12, the Prosecutor's Office released a statement regarding the plea agreement:
“The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has signed a plea agreement with the accused Irakli Garibashvili, according to which the former Prime Minister was sentenced to 5 years in prison for the crime provided for in Part 3 of Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.
In addition, a fine of 1 million GEL was imposed as an additional punishment. He will also be deprived of the state’s benefit from the money obtained as a result of criminal activity and seized during the search of his residence.
Irakli Garibashvili admits to the crime he committed and agrees to the terms of the plea agreement. The court has already satisfied the Prosecutor’s Office’s motion for a plea agreement,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
The Prosecutor's Office accused former Defense Minister, former Prime Minister, and former Chairman of the Georgian Dream, Irakli Garibashvili, of laundering millions. According to the agency, the main part of the unsubstantiated amount, 6,500,000 USD, was discovered and seized during a search of his apartment on October 17.
According to the case materials, during his tenure, during his tenure in public office, Garibashvili covertly and in a disguised manner engaged in various business activities, thereby receiving illicit proceeds in particularly large amounts. As a public official, he was legally obligated to declare both his revenue and expenses. To conceal the illicit origin of the aforementioned funds and legitimize the illegally obtained revenue, Garibashvili included false information in his asset declarations, falsely claiming that he had received substantial amounts of money each year as “gifts” from a family member. According to the prosecutor's office, through this scheme, he artificially created a legal appearance for part of his “unlawfully acquired revenue” amounting to GEL 830,000, which was subsequently integrated into legal financial circulation.
Furthermore, according to the case materials, in order to legitimize additional undocumented assets, between 2023 and 2024, Garibashvili purchased and registered under the name of an associated person two vehicles worth GEL 463,630 in total, and through a family member, acquired 100% of the shares of a company valued at GEL 210,000, which owned real estate assets. In parallel, a total of GEL 3,670,172 was invested into a limited liability company registered under the name of his family member.
Irakli Garibashvili was charged under Article 194 §3(c) of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which concerns the laundering of illicit proceeds involving particularly large amounts. The crime carries a sentence of 9 to 12 years in prison.
On October 24, the Tbilisi City Court granted Irakli Garibashvili bail in the amount of 1 million GEL and prohibited him from leaving the country as a preventive measure. The next court hearing in the case was scheduled for December 16, but the trial was postponed because, according to the defendant's lawyer, Amiran Giguashvili, the prosecutor's office requested an extension of the deadline for conducting investigative actions until February 12.
