A former close aide to the man widely regarded as Georgia's most powerful figure was freed on Wednesday after admitting guilt in a high-profile cryptocurrency embezzlement case, Georgian media reported, citing the defendant's lawyer.
Giorgi Bachiashvili, who had earlier rejected the accusations as politically driven and left the country while on trial, has now accepted responsibility, according to the prosecutor's office. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors said his original prison sentence - which exceeded 15 years following a conviction in absentia - was commuted to a one-year suspended sentence and a monetary penalty of 50,000 lari, equivalent to about $18,900 at the stated exchange rate.
Background
Bachiashvili was accused of misappropriating Bitcoin valued at roughly $39 million at the time, funds prosecutors say were tied to a 2015 loan from Cartu Bank intended to finance a cryptocurrency mining venture. He formerly ran the investment fund of billionaire and ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, the politician widely viewed as Georgia's de facto leader.
During the initial proceedings, Bachiashvili denied wrongdoing and characterized the charges as politically motivated. While on trial in March 2025, he fled Georgia, crossing by land into Armenia before continuing to a third country, according to the timeline reported by authorities. He was later apprehended near Georgia's southern border with Armenia and Azerbaijan, returned to Tbilisi and subsequently handed an additional 4-1/2-year sentence for illegal border crossing. At an earlier point he had been convicted in absentia, receiving a sentence totaling more than 15 years.
Plea and legal outcomes
The prosecutor's office said that Bachiashvili has now fully admitted guilt, prompting the plea deal that reduced his punishment to a suspended term and the fine. Reuters was unable to immediately reach his lawyer, Levan Makharashvili, for comment.
Separately, prosecutors on Wednesday dropped previous charges against Bachiashvili's elderly parents, who had faced allegations of assisting in laundering approximately $3.5 million worth of cryptocurrency.
Reactions and controversy
The Georgian branch of Transparency International has publicly questioned the strength of the evidence against Bachiashvili, asserting that the case appears connected to Ivanishvili's financial interests. One of Bachiashvili's lawyers, Robert Amsterdam, earlier said his client had been returned to Georgia "forcibly" and warned he was at risk of torture.
Ivanishvili, who founded and is seen as controlling the ruling Georgian Dream party, has in recent years been associated with shifting Georgia's policy orientation while also tightening measures against domestic opposition, according to reporting on the country's political landscape.
Notes
The official conversion cited in reporting is: $1 = 2.6470 laris.