The Tbilisi City Court sentenced six individuals indicted in Georgian Railway’s alleged corruptive scheme case to prison as a preventive measure. Two other individuals, Davit Peradze and Zaza Bidzinashvili, were sent behind bars in absentia. Judge Eka Barbakadze announced the decision. The pre-trial court hearing will be held on August 10.

Prosecutor Ani Lekishvili provided details of the corruptive scheme substantiated by evidence of witnesses, seized documents and expertise conclusions.

The lawyers stated that none of the indicted individuals, except for Revaz Revazishvili, admitted guilt. They proposed bail instead of imprisonment as a punishment measure.

On June 16, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) held a press briefing concerning the involvement of former senior officials of Georgian Railway JSC in a major corruption scheme. SSSG officials stated that eight individuals are implicated in the case. Specifically, during their tenure at the company, corruption schemes were deployed to misappropriate large sums of state funds through various fraudulent means, before laundering the illicitly obtained assets.

The Investigation is in progress under Articles 180, 194 and 362 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. The indicted individuals face imprisonment for 9-12 years.