Former Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Tbilisi City Court after being found guilty of abuse of power and money laundering.
The verdict was announced on Thursday by Judge Irakli Khuskivadze. Along with the prison sentence, the court also ordered the confiscation of property belonging to Burchuladze, including land and a house in Spain.
Alongside the former minister, two members of his inner circle — his former deputy Giorgi Khaindrava and brother-in-law Vasil Mkheidze — were each sentenced to eight years in prison in the same case.
Another defendant, Vladimer Ghudushauri, who previously headed the Defence Ministry’s procurement department, reached a plea agreement. Having admitted guilt and testified against Burchuladze, Ghudushauri was found guilty, but his prison sentence was commuted to bail and a suspended sentence.
Burchuladze served as Defence Minister from February 2021 until February 2024 under then-Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili, having previously served as Deputy Defence Minister. Gharibashvili himself was sentenced in January in another money-laundering case.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
Burchuladze was originally detained by Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) in September 2025, following the arrests of Mkheidze, Ghudushauri, and Khaindrava in July. The latter three were charged with embezzlement, however, the agency only mentioned the alleged involvement of Burchuladze in the case months later, when announcing his detention.
The SSG claimed that Burchaladze, alongside with the other defendants, manipulated a ministry procurement deal for medical equipment for his own benefit. It further noted that the item in question was an MRI machine, the price of which was inflated from ₾2.6 million ($970,000) to ₾3.9 million ($1.5 million), resulting in a loss of ₾1.3 million ($500,000) from the state budget.
According to the investigation, Burchuladze then concealed his income by purchasing land and a house in Spain for €544,000 ($640,000) in January 2025, while concealing the purchase via a fake sale agreement and fictitious loans. The SSG alleged Burchuladze had failed to declare the property in his declaration of assets.
Burchuladze did not plead guilty.
Burchuladze’s prosecution was among a number of corruption-related investigations and arrests that have recently targeted former senior officials under the ruling Georgian Dream party, including former Prime Minister Gharibashvili and the former head of the the State Security Service (SSG), Grigol Liluashvili.
Ilia Ghudushauri, the brother of Vladimer Ghudushauri and a former deputy Health Minister, is also among those detained. He was charged in January with abuse of power.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
In response to the prosecutions, Georgian Dream figures have stressed their commitment to an uncompromising fight against corruption, even if the case involves current or former allies.
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 power struggles.
