Tbilisi City Court fully shared the evidence presented by the Prosecutor's Office and found the owners of company “Lagi Capital” guilty of fraudulently appropriating a particularly large amount through a prior agreement by a group, legalization of illegal income, and preparation/use of a false official document. The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has released the information.

According to the agency, evidence examined during the court proceedings confirmed that, in order to win tenders announced by the Municipal Development Fund of Georgia for the design and construction of kindergartens in Chokhatauri, Ozurgeti, Mtskheta, Ninotsminda, Dedoplistskaro, Gori, and Batumi municipalities, the accused prepared and submitted a false audit conclusion regarding the work experience of company “Lagi Capital,” along with other required documentation. After winning the tenders, the accused requested and received advance payments from the Municipal Development Fund under the pretext of starting construction works on the kindergartens, even though in most cases they had not yet had the kindergarten construction projects approved.

“As a result, members of the criminal group fraudulently appropriated 9,365,000 GEL from the Fund, while failing to fulfill the construction works stipulated in the contracts.

To give a legal appearance to the fraudulently appropriated funds, the accused transferred 1,211,000 GEL in full to the bank account of another company owned by them, under the pretext of an advance payment for services to be provided. This money was later used for various purposes, including repaying loans, thereby ultimately legalizing and integrating the particularly large amount obtained through criminal activity into the legal financial system.

Tbilisi City Court found the accused guilty under Articles 180, 194, and 362 of the Criminal Code of Georgia and sentenced them to 10 years of imprisonment each,” the information states.