“The General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has launched a criminal case into large-scale fraudulent appropriation of funds by private citizens. Four individuals have been detained, and criminal prosecution has been initiated against one more person. As a result of the defendants’ actions, the total damage caused to citizens amounts to about 3 million GEL,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

According to the statement, an investigation conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed that representatives of the travel company Smile Travel Georgia in 2024–2025 collected large sums of money from individuals, promising to organize trips abroad. They allegedly misappropriated about 1 million GEL belonging to around 200 victims, failing to fulfill their obligations.

“The investigation is actively continuing to identify other victims deceived by the defendants, which means the number of affected individuals and the total amount of fraudulently obtained funds may increase.

Additionally, in cooperation with the relevant division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Anti-Fraud Unit uncovered another case — the fraudulent appropriation of ownership rights to 100% of a company’s shares.

It was established that the defendant had promised representatives of Zekari Sources help in resolving their financial difficulties in exchange for transferring company shares. To gain their trust, the defendant partially repaid the company’s bank debt using funds fraudulently obtained from another victim and then demanded that partners re-register full ownership rights in his favor.

As a result, the defendant re-registered 100% of the company’s shares under a family member’s name, without repaying the company’s loans, thus fraudulently taking over the entire organization. This caused material damage exceeding 1,500,000 GEL to the company’s owners and up to 163,000 GEL to another victim.

Furthermore, in the course of investigating another case, the Anti-Fraud Unit discovered that the accused had signed a so-called “fake construction contract” with a victim in order to misappropriate a large amount of money. Under the agreement, the victim transferred 123,134 GEL to the accused for specific construction works. The defendants failed to fulfill their contractual obligations and appropriated the money.

The accused have been charged under Parts 2 and 3 of Article 180 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for imprisonment of up to nine years. At the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, the court ordered pre-trial detention for the defendants.

As the public is aware, the Tbilisi Prosecutor’s Office has established a division for procedural supervision of fraud-related criminal cases.

This unit oversees investigations conducted by the Anti-Fraud Department of the Tbilisi Police and supports public prosecution in such cases.

The statement emphasizes that ensuring effective investigation of fraud-related crimes remains one of the main priorities of the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office, and strict criminal policy is applied to protect the legal interests of victims.”