The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has detained journalist Eliso Kiladze in connection with the so-called call center case, - this was announced by Prosecutor Mikheil Sadradze at a briefing held at the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. According to him, in the same case, charges will be brought in absentia against former Prosecutor General of Georgia Otar Partskhaladze, who is in hiding, and members of his criminal group - Davit Mikadze, Irakli Sekhniashvili, and Mikheil Chokheli. The charging document will be personally served to Giorgi Mikadze, who is currently serving a sentence in a penitentiary institution for another criminal case.

“The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has uncovered yet another large-scale call center crime and has initiated criminal prosecution against ten individuals for fraud and money laundering committed by an organized group.

Charges will be brought in absentia against former Prosecutor General of Georgia Otar Partskhaladze, who is in hiding, and members of his criminal group - Davit Mikadze, Irakli Sekhniashvili, and Mikheil Chokheli. The charging document will be personally served to Giorgi Mikadze, who is currently placed in a penitentiary institution for another criminal case.

In the same criminal case, member of the organized criminal group Eliso Kiladze has been detained.

The charging document will also be presented to other members of the group - Givi Jibladze, Ben Anor, Tornike Janelidze, and Giorgi Kamladze - who actively cooperated with the investigation, not only admitted the crimes committed but also substantially assisted in uncovering transnational crime.

We remind the public that, as stated at the previous briefing, despite the state's declared legal fight in this direction during 2020-2023, several dozen fraudulent call centers continued to operate in the country. According to witness testimonies, the vast majority of these call centers belonged to a group of individuals who financed various opposition media outlets from the revenues received, while the relatively smaller portion of call centers was patronized by Grigol Liluashvili and Otar Partskhaladze through their close associates.

In this case, the joint investigation conducted by the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia and the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance has established that during 2020-2023, under the patronage of Otar Partskhaladze, an organized criminal group with a structured form operated in Georgia. The group's aim was to illegally obtain material benefits and subsequently launder money.

Members of the organized group established several legal entities in Georgia, on the basis of which they set up fraudulent call centers in various locations in Tbilisi, with Russian-, English-, and German-speaking departments. Call center operators, following instructions from management, lured victims to fake trading platforms by promising profitable investments, involved them in trading, fraudulently appropriated large amounts of invested funds or cryptocurrency from victims, and then placed, divided, and integrated the illegally obtained assets.

The functions of the organized group members included ensuring the smooth operation of the criminal call centers, protecting the illegal activities of the call centers from law enforcement and other competing organizations, providing information support in case of exposure, and, as necessary, ensuring the exposure of so-called “non-compliant competitors” to create conditions for their subsequent blackmail and recruitment.

Specifically, Givi Jibladze, Ben Anor, Tornike Janelidze, and Giorgi Kamladze ensured the smooth operation of the call center, made decisions regarding its expansion or change of location, actively supervised the business processes, kept records of revenues and expenses, distributed salaries and bonuses, and calculated and distributed funds to be shared with partners and patrons.

Other members of the organized group - Giorgi Mikadze, Davit Mikadze, Irakli Sekhniashvili, and Mikheil Chokheli - through Otar Partskhaladze and his influence, provided patronage for the criminal activities of the call center, which included protection from interference by law enforcement and competing organizations. They also participated in the decision-making process for matters essential to the call center's functioning.

It is noteworthy that in cases of exposure of the call center's activities or the risk thereof, Eliso Kiladze ensured the presentation of the criminal activity as legitimate by disseminating appropriate information on various media platforms. At the same time, in order to expose competing call centers that were not under their influence, Eliso Kiladze planned, threatened, or carried out the public dissemination of information about their locations and employees, creating conditions for their subsequent blackmail and recruitment.

For the activities carried out, the influential and information patrons received substantial monthly benefits from the funds fraudulently obtained from non-residents.

As established by the investigation at this stage only, during 2020-2023, within the framework of criminal activity, members of the organized group fraudulently appropriated cryptocurrency worth approximately 9.5 million US dollars belonging to more than two hundred citizens of foreign countries.

Subsequently, for the purpose of legalizing illegal income, the virtual assets fraudulently obtained from victims were divided and transferred multiple times to various crypto wallets controlled by members of the organized criminal group. The cash obtained as a result of the conversion of virtual assets was used for the needs of the organized criminal group - payment of salaries and bonuses, covering current expenses of the call centers, and the accumulated funds from criminal activities were directed by group members, as supposedly legitimately obtained income, toward the purchase of movable and immovable property.

Charges have been brought against Otar Partskhaladze, Giorgi Mikadze, Davit Mikadze, Irakli Sekhniashvili, Mikheil Chokheli, Eliso Kiladze, Givi Jibladze, Ben Anor, Tornike Janelidze, and Giorgi Kamladze under Articles 180 and 194 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provide for imprisonment from 9 to 12 years as a form and measure of punishment.

The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia will apply to the court within the time limit established by law for the imposition of pretrial detention on Eliso Kiladze, Giorgi Mikadze, and the accused in hiding - Otar Partskhaladze, Davit Mikadze, Irakli Sekhniashvili, and Mikheil Chokheli, and for the imposition of bail on Givi Jibladze, Ben Anor, Tornike Janelidze, and Giorgi Kamladze, taking into account the degree of their cooperation with the investigation.

The investigation and international cooperation continue in order to identify other persons involved in the crime, establish the identities of other victims, and obtain relevant new evidence,” - stated Sadradze.