Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) has announced that former Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili ‘admitted to receiving illegal income over the years’. The statement was part of a high-profile investigation involving Gharibashvili and several other former high-ranking officials.
The SSG stated during Wednesday’s briefing that a legal assessment of Gharibashvili’s actions and a decision on the preventive measure to be applied will be made in the coming days.
The agency added that they will keep the public informed.
A day after the SSG briefing, on Thursday, the second arrest in connection with the case was announced. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Andria Liluashvili — an associate of former SSG head Grigol Liluashvili, who is also implicated in the case — was detained on charges of large-scale money laundering.
The Prosecutor General’s Office announced the high-profile investigation last week, which, in addition to Gharibashvili, also involves former SSG head Liluashvili and former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze. At the time, it was stated that searches had been conducted not only at the homes of the three but also of other individuals connected to them, across various locations around the country.
Later, the SSG released materials allegedly seized during the searches, including $7 million and ₾136,000 ($50,000) in cash, 198 pieces of jewelry and watches, expensive paintings, several thousand pieces of documents, as well as 119 electronic devices.
It has been reported that the SSG’s Anti-Corruption Agency is involved in the investigation, though several details remain unclear — including which former official is being accused of what, for which periods, and which items were seized from whom during the searches conducted by the SSG.
On the same Wednesday that the SSG announced Gharibashvili’s admission to receiving illegal income, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported the first arrest in connection with the case — that of Koba Khundadze, on charges of large-scale money laundering. According to the investigation, Khundadze, like Andria Liluashvili, is an associate of the former head of the SSG. The office stated that around 100 envelopes containing various amounts of cash, totaling over $1.3 million, were seized from Khundadze’s home.
Another individual who became the target of a search was Mikheil Chokheli, allegedly associated with Partskhaladze. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, $2.9 million was seized from the safes belonging to Chokheli and a member of his family whose name has not been disclosed.
The raids came amidst investigations and detentions of several former officials from Gharibashvili’s tenure. In September, former Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze was arrested on corruption charges, which was preceded by the detentions of two former deputy ministers.
Speculation and leaks suggesting Gharibashvili would soon be targeted by the authorities have circulated for several months; however, until the recent announcements from the SSG and the Prosecutor General’s Office, there was no official confirmation of this.
In response to the investigations, members of the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed their commitment to an uncompromising fight against corruption, even if the case involved a current or former ally. However, opposition politicians and civil society activists have stated they do not believe that the process is genuinely about combating corruption, hinting instead at possible internal intrigues.
From party loyalists to outsiders
Gharibashvili accompanied Ivanishvili into politics having previously worked in several of his businesses. In 2012, Gharibashvili was appointed Interior Minister in the first government formed by Georgian Dream after coming to power.
In 2013, he succeeded Ivanishvili as prime minister, a position he held until the end of 2015 when he stepped away from public politics. He returned in 2019 to serve as Defence Minister. In 2021, following the resignation of then‑Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, Gharibashvili again took over as prime minister. After Gakharia stepped down, he went into the opposition over apparent disagreements over the arrest of Nika Melia, who was head of the opposition United National Movement party (UNM) at the time.
In 2024, Gharibishvili stepped down as prime minister soon after Ivanishvili announced his formal return to politics, and shortly before the party pushed through the controversial foreign agent law, which Gharibashvili’s government had been forced to withdraw amidst protests. He was succeeded as prime minister by Irakli Kobakhidze, who remains in the position.
After stepping down as prime minister, Gharibashvili took on the role of chair of Georgian Dream, maintaining a low public profile. Rumours of tension between him and the party leadership prior to his exit from politics in April emerged several times. These included reports that Gharibashvili wished to leave the party amidst the widespread public backlash against the government, and was physically assaulted by fellow party members as a result. Gharibashvili denied this as a ‘disgusting lie’ at the time, insisting he had sustained a minor injury while exercising.
Liluashvili, whose home was also raided on Friday, served as the head of the SSG from 2019 until April 2025, when the government announced he would be appointed Minister of Regional Development. However, two days later, Kobakhidze stated that an agreement could not be reached on several issues, including the functions of the deputy ministers, and as a result, Liluashvili’s candidacy was withdrawn. He was replaced as SSG head by Anri Okhanashvili, who was then replaced five months later by prominent Georgian Dream figure Mamuka Mdinaradze.
Following 4 October’s failed ‘peaceful revolution’ there have been widespread suggestions, including by TV station Formula, that Liluashvili had been feeding protest organisers information before ultimately betraying them.
Partskhaladze, who holds Russian citizenship, briefly served as Georgia’s general prosecutor in late-2013 and has faced past accusations of violence and extortion on behalf of Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili. In 2023, the US sanctioned him for ties to Russia’s consulting sector and its ‘malign influence’ on Georgia.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
