Vladimer Gudushauri, the former head of the Defense Ministry’s Procurement Department, who was arrested on charges of embezzling a large amount of money by a group, is exercising his right to remain silent.

After leaving the State Security Service building, Gudushauri’s lawyer Levan Sepiashvili made the above statement. He did not discuss the details of the case.

“My client is exercising his right to remain silent. I cannot tell you more about the case due to the interests of my client. The materials have now been handed over to us, we will review them and the details will become known to us,” Sepiashvili said.

When asked whether former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze was questioned, the lawyer replied that he did not know.

Former Deputy Minister of Defense Giorgi Khaindrava, former head of the same ministry’s Procurement Department Vladimir Gudushauri, and the brother of then-Minister of Defense’s wife, Vasil Mkheidze, have been formally charged.

Gudushauri and Giorgi Khaindrava are accused of embezzling large sums of money, while Vasil Mkheidze is accused of aiding and abetting embezzlement.

According to the indictment, Juansher Burchuladze’s deputy, Giorgi Khaindrava, and the then head of the Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defense, Vladimer Ghudushauri, with the assistance of Vasil Mkheidze, deliberately created a non-competitive environment during the process of the Ministry’s purchase of a magnetic resonance imaging machine for a military hospital, as a result of which, through the conclusion of unrealistic deals, the real value of the machine increased, as a result of which the defendants embezzled 1,333,728 GEL belonging to the Ministry of Defense of Georgia.

The crime provides for a sentence of 7 to 11 years of imprisonment.