Former Deputy Head of the State Security Service, Levan Akhobadze, has been sentenced to pretrial detention as a preventive measure.

The decision was made by Tbilisi City Court Judge Nana Shamatava.

Levan Akhobadze was the deputy of former State Security Service head, Grigol Liluashvili.

The former deputy head of the State Security Service was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service. Akhobadze was detained on charges of accepting an especially large bribe.

According to the investigation, the former deputy head of the State Security Service promised an entrepreneur, through intermediaries, assistance in recovering money, in exchange for which he demanded a bribe of 500,000 GEL, although they ultimately agreed on the transfer of 250,000 GEL.

The detainee has been charged under Article 338, Part 3, Subparagraph “e” of the Criminal Code of Georgia (directly demanding and receiving money by an official in order to perform an action in favor of the bribe giver and to use official authority to achieve a similar goal, committed in especially large amounts), which provides for punishment ranging from 11 to 15 years of imprisonment.