Officers of the Investigative Service of the Ministry of Finance, in coordination with the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti District Prosecutor’s Office, have detained two individuals, identified as V.G. and L.S., on charges of illegal entrepreneurial activities and money laundering.

According to the Investigative Service, the investigation established that the defendants had been systematically extracting inert materials from the Supsa River in the Guria region without the required permits or licenses and selling them to various business entities.

“In total, the suspects illegally extracted 32,957 cubic meters of inert material worth GEL 380,804, while the damage caused to the environment amounted to GEL 494,345.

In addition, one of the defendants legalized illegally obtained income amounting to GEL 45,713,” the Investigative Service said in a statement.

The investigation is being conducted under Subparagraph “a” of Part 2 of Article 192 and Subparagraph “g” of Part 2 of Article 194 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which envisage a prison sentence ranging from six to nine years.