The anti-corruption agency of Georgia’s state security service has arrested Levan Akhobadze, the former deputy head of the state security service, on charges of accepting an exceptionally large bribe. 

Emzar Gagnidze, the director of the anti-corruption agency, noted that the incident traces back to April 2024, when Akhobadze was serving as deputy to the then-head of the service Grigol Liluashvili. 

“In April 2024, Akhobadze became aware that a private entrepreneur had had an undeclared sum of 40 million Russian rubles [approximately $440,000] seized at the Lars customs checkpoint on the Georgia-Russia border. Under Georgian law, the illegal transfer of cash exceeding 100,000 GEL across the customs border is punishable by a fine of 10% of the amount or confiscation of the funds”, Gagnidze said.

The director further added that the entrepreneur had appealed to the relevant unit of the revenue service under the ministry of finance through legal procedures but was refused the return of the funds. Following this, the former deputy head of the state security service contacted the businessman through intermediaries and promised assistance in retrieving the seized money.

“After negotiations, the entrepreneur paid the legally required 10% fine and recovered the seized funds on 30 April 2024 at the Lars checkpoint. Shortly afterwards, Akhobadze requested a bribe of 500,000 GEL ($190,000) in exchange for his assistance. According to testimony cited in the investigation, the amount was later reduced to 250,000 ($94,000) following the intervention of then-security service head Grigol Liluashvili. The money was subsequently handed over to intermediaries and transferred to Akhobadze within days of the return of the seized funds”, Gagnidze said.

Investigators established that the bribe money was delivered directly to the then-deputy head of the state security service inside his personal office on that very same day.

The case is being investigated under Article 338 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to bribery on an exceptionally large scale. If convicted, Akhobadze faces a prison sentence ranging from 11 to 15 years.