The Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia has launched criminal proceedings against a Chinese citizen accused of extorting large sums of money from dozens of Georgians. The charges were brought against the suspect in absentia.
According to the investigators, a ‘criminal scheme’ was launched in 2023, offering potential clients quick profits by investing money in the virtual purchase of medical drugs and equipment.
‘In reality, the investment project was a financial pyramid scheme aimed at attracting a large number of users and encouraging them to supposedly invest funds’, the agency added.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the accused fraudulently obtained almost ₾400,000 ($150,000) belonging to 56 Georgian citizens. Afterward, the illicit proceeds were legalised by transferring the money across various accounts, disguising its origin, converting it into cryptocurrency, and moving it between different wallets.
The investigators noted the suspect used a platform called mindraygel1.com to operate the scheme — a domain included the name of a well-known Chinese multinational health technology company Mindray. The website is currently inaccessible, but it can still be found in Internet Archive, with the first capture recorded in July 2023.
The investigation has been launched under articles related to fraud and money laundering, which carry a sentence of 9 to 12 years in prison. The Prosecutor General’s Office vowed to request pretrial detention of the suspect.
‘The relevant legal procedures will be carried out to establish the accused’s whereabouts, detain them, and extradite them to Georgia’, the agency concluded.
OC Media
