Georgian authorities have arrested the former right-hand man of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of the country’s authoritarian ruling party, who has accused his former aide of stealing cryptocurrency now worth more than $800 million.
Giorgi Bachiashvili fled the country two months ago, but his arrest came on the same day The Guardian published an interview in which he criticized Georgia’s slide into repression—and Ivanishvili’s role in it. Bachiashvili’s lawyer claims the billionaire is abusing the country’s judiciary to persecute his client.
On Tuesday, the Georgian State Security Service (SSS) released a video showing the arrest and said it acted on a tip that Bachiashvili was heading toward a lightly guarded part of the border.
Bachiashvili served for six years as CEO of a private fund owned by Ivanishvili and his family. During his tenure, he introduced Ivanishvili to Bitcoin—a venture that eventually led to a major falling-out. Ivanishvili later accused him of embezzling millions, which triggered a criminal investigation and trial.
Before the court issued its verdict in March, Bachiashvili fled in violation of his bail conditions. Upon leaving, he vowed to expose Ivanishvili, stating he would “make all efforts to ensure the international community understands exactly who Ivanishvili is, especially in the U.S.”
Bachiashvili was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 11 years in prison for embezzling cryptocurrency and laundering illicit income. In addition, he now faces an additional charge of unlawful border crossing, which carries a sentence of three to five years.
Bachiashvili’s lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, issued a statement claiming that his client had been forcibly returned to Georgia and now faces the risk of “arbitrary detention, coercive interrogation, and abusive mistreatment.”
“Mr. Bachiashvili has been the target of an intensifying campaign of political persecution orchestrated by Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s de facto ruler,” the statement read. “The ongoing criminal proceedings against Mr. Bachiashvili—based on nonsensical and time-barred charges stemming from legitimate business activities over a decade ago—reflect the systemic use of the judiciary as a tool of political control.”
In his interview with The Guardian, Bachiashvili discussed his decision to flee before the trial’s conclusion.
“I got a message from one of the guys in the State Security Service that Ivanishvili had said, ‘I will crush him in jail and make him do what I want,’” Bachiashvili said, adding that the decision to leave was incredibly difficult.
“[But] I knew that basically I was going to die in jail,” he told the paper.
In response, Ivanishvili’s lawyer told The Guardian the accusations Bachiashvili made in the interview were “just yellow press-level [tabloid] gossip.”