The Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service (SSG) has brought criminal charges against the former General Director of JSC “Georgian Railway,” Davit Peradze, and seven other individuals. The statement was made a few minutes ago at a briefing held by the agency.

According to the SSG, two of the eight individuals - including Davit Peradze - have been declared wanted, while the remaining individuals were arrested in Tbilisi based on a court order.

The State Security Service also outlined the alleged criminal scheme through which, according to the agency, former officials of Georgian Railway misappropriated large amounts of state funds and laundered illegally obtained property.

“The employees of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service, as a result of operational-investigative and procedural actions conducted in Tbilisi based on a court order, have detained and brought to criminal liability a total of eight persons for large-scale fraud committed by an organized group using official position, aiding in the commission of this crime, preparation and use of forged settlement documents committed by a group, preparation and use of forged official documents, aiding in this offense, as well as legalization of illegal income committed by an organized group, accompanied by obtaining particularly large income. Two of the individuals will be formally charged in absentia, and a search will be declared for them.

The case concerns corrupt schemes used by former management of Georgian Railway during their time in office, through which they unlawfully obtained large amounts of state funds and gave legal appearance to illegally acquired property.

The investigation established that in the autumn of 2019, the then-General Director of Georgian Railway, Davit Peradze, with the aim of fraudulently obtaining large amounts of property belonging to the joint-stock company, formed an organized criminal group with a structured composition. According to a pre-developed scheme, the group was to ensure the collection, transport, cutting, and sorting of scrap metal belonging to Georgian Railway in such a way that it would become impossible to determine its original exact quantity. At the same time, using pre-selected companies, tax documents were to be created that would give the unlawfully obtained scrap metal a formal, allegedly legal origin, enabling its sale.

Peradze gradually involved several individuals in the scheme, including the then Director of Infrastructure of Georgian Railway. Another person involved had actual control over several business entities: LLC “Kakheti,” LLC “Nova Trans,” LLC “Jadexa,” LLC “Construction and Repair Company Khuro,” and LLC “Grand Kakheti.”

According to the scheme, Georgian Railway announced two tenders in 2020 - for transport, sorting, cutting, and collection services of scrap metal - on February 8 and September 9. The winner of both tenders was LLC “Kakheti,” founded and controlled by individuals involved in the scheme. At the same time, with Peradze’s agreement, scrap metal was removed without proper weighing or accounting, and in some cases in reduced recorded quantities, making it impossible to identify shortages and responsibility. Documentation was deliberately falsified to make later accountability impossible and to facilitate write-offs.

During execution of the contract, scrap metal was systematically removed from Georgian Railway premises and transported to the plant of LLC “Geosteel” in Rustavi instead of being properly stored. False tax documents were also created to conceal the illegal origin of the material and to facilitate its sale.

As a result, in 2020–2021, a total of 22,120 tons of scrap metal belonging to Georgian Railway was fraudulently obtained. After changing its origin, it was purchased by LLC “Geosteel” for 17,391,121 GEL. The proceeds were accumulated in the accounts of LLC “Nova Trans” and LLC “Jadexa,” later cashed out and distributed among group members.

The investigation also found that on April 29, 2022, Georgian Railway and LLC “Raveldi” signed a contract for rail defect repair services worth 999,768 USD. The contract covered welding of up to 1,600 rails, with payment based on acceptance certificates. During implementation, the director of LLC “Raveldi,” in agreement with the then Head of Infrastructure of Georgian Railway, entered falsified data into acceptance documents, stating that 1,200 rails had been welded instead of the actual 987. Based on this falsified documentation, employees subordinated to the infrastructure director signed the documents, resulting in an overpayment of 403,844 GEL to the contractor.

The investigation is being conducted under multiple articles of the Criminal Code of Georgia related to large-scale fraud, money laundering, document forgery, and aiding such crimes, which carry penalties of 9 to 12 years of imprisonment.

The State Security Service Anti-Corruption Agency continues active investigative measures to identify other members of the organized group and apply legal measures against them,” the statement reads.

For context, Davit Peradze served as General Director of Georgian Railway from November 22, 2017, to May 7, 2025.