Emzar Gagnidze, the Director of the Georgian State Security Service’s Anti-Corruption Agency, on Tuesday announced that 28 individuals had been arrested or charged in connection with 14 separate criminal cases following a large-scale operation conducted across nine regions of Georgia by the Anti-Corruption Agency of Georgia’s State Security Service.

In his remarks, Gagnidze noted that the investigation uncovered alleged offenses including bribery, the production and distribution of forged official documents, commercial bribery committed by a group, fraudulent misappropriation of state funds and land plots, and abuse of official authority.

“Authorities arrested three individuals and charged 11 others in five criminal cases related to the fraudulent misappropriation of state funds allocated through public procurement”, he said.

“The cases concern alleged document forgery and other unlawful activities during road construction, internal water supply network projects, and public school rehabilitation works carried out by private companies in the municipalities of Tsalka, Akhaltsikhe, and Tetritskaro. Investigators allege that the schemes resulted in the fraudulent appropriation of tens of thousands of lari”, Gagnidze continued.

He added that the investigation also found that several of the accused allegedly supplied lower quantities than required under state contracts, as well as Easter food products and disinfectants of different brands and inferior quality, under procurement contracts for Tbilisi kindergartens and Batumi’s free dining facilities.

According to the Service, these actions caused the state financial damage amounting to 669,497 GEL.

“Seven individuals have been charged in three criminal cases involving the fraudulent acquisition of state-owned land, abuse of official authority, and official misconduct”, the Director said.

“The investigation alleges that representatives of the municipalities and municipal councils of Dmanisi, Gurjaani, and Tsalka abused their official positions and used forged documentation to unlawfully acquire a total of 91,564 square meters of state-owned land”, he continued.

The estimated damage to the state in these cases amounts to 397,804 GEL.

Three individuals have been arrested in connection with three separate bribery cases.

“Investigators allege that officials from the municipalities of Lanchkhuti and Tetritskaro, as well as a representative of the Oni Forestry Service, accepted bribes from Georgian and foreign citizens in exchange for facilitating the placement and subsequent protection of mobile commercial facilities on state-owned land, transferring state land for beekeeping purposes, and allowing the illegal felling and transportation of protected oak trees”, Gagnidze noted.

“Four individuals have been arrested in three criminal cases involving the production and distribution of forged official documents and commercial bribery committed by a group”, he added.

According to the investigation, the suspects allegedly accepted bribes in exchange for producing and distributing forged driver’s licenses, Georgian passports, and counterfeit bachelor’s diplomas purportedly issued by a private higher education institution.

The Anti-Corruption Agency stated that covert investigative measures were conducted under court authorisation, resulting in the collection of audio and video evidence allegedly documenting the criminal activities.

The investigation is being conducted under multiple articles of the Criminal Code of Georgia, including provisions related to fraud, commercial bribery, abuse of official authority, bribery, official misconduct, and document forgery.

The agency said it will continue efforts to detect and prevent corruption, adding that special attention is being paid to assessing and eliminating corruption risks in order to reduce corruption to a minimum.