Giorgi Bachiashvili, an ally-turned-critic of Georgia’s ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, has been released from a Tbilisi prison following a plea agreement, after nearly nine months in detention.
Initial reports of his release were published by the opposition-leaning Georgian TV channels Formula and Pirveli, citing his lawyer.
The information was later confirmed to local media by the Prosecutor General’s Office, which stated that Bachiashvili had admitted guilt in all criminal cases against him და ‘compensated for the damages’, after which a plea agreement was signed, resulting in fines and a suspended sentence.
In the high-profile case, Bachiashvili had been accused of misappropriating cryptocurrency allegedly belonging to Ivanishvili and money laundering — charges he denied, describing the case as politically motivated persecution.
In an interview with Pirveli, one of Bachiashvili’s lawyers, Levan Makharashvili, did not discuss the details of the plea agreement. However, he noted that the agreement also applies to Bachiashvili’s parents, and that the criminal prosecution against them — which had been launched over allegations that they helped Bachiashvili launder money — will be dropped.
In the cryptocurrency case, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Bachiashvili to 11 years in prison in March 2025. In another 2025 case, for which no verdict was reached, had the authorities accusing Bachiashvili of failing to or improperly fulfilling his official duties as the former head of the Ivanishvili-founded Co-Investment Fund.
Bachiashvili’s trial was marked by several dramatic episodes, including his secret departure abroad shortly before sentencing and his subsequent arrest in May, which, according to Bachiashvili, amounted to his abduction from abroad.
In July, the businessperson said he had been severely beaten in prison by an unidentified individual, an incident he claimed was preceded by advice from the prison director, Davit Gogoberishvili, to disclose his bank account details, cryptocurrency transactions, and wallet addresses to Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Later, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) claimed that the incident had been staged by Bachiashvili for personal gain. During the investigation into the incident, Gogoberishvili, as well as the Deputy Head of the Penitentiary Department of the Special Penitentiary Service, Giorgi Kemoklidze, stepped down from their positions.
Later in October, Gogoberishvili was found dead, in a case opened under an article relating to suicide, while Kemoklidze was detained on charges of involvement in staging the Bachiashvili incident.
Bachiashvili served as the general director of the Georgian Co-Investment Fund — founded by Ivanishvili in 2013 shortly after coming to power — until 2019, when he moved to the position of chair of the fund’s advisory board.
Once close partners, their paths diverged in recent years, accompanied by investigations against the businessperson. Announcing his departure in March, Bachiashvili said he made the decision due to security risks, adding that he would be ‘completely defenceless’ in prison.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
