Employees of the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia have reportedly detained the Head of the Poti Municipality Assembly. 4 individuals in total have been detained for illegal appropriation of property, with three of them being current public figures and one the former Mayor of the city of Poti.
"Following an investigation, it has been determined that the City Hall of Poti Municipality concluded 2 contracts in 2015 and 2017, which envisaged implementation of rehabilitation works in the city of Poti, Maltakva district. As it has been determined, heads of the contracting companies included fake and boosted data on work volume in the acts of work completion and payments-related documents, and by doing so, they unlawfully appropriated state funds, with the appropriated funds being astronomical: 439,892 GEL in the first case and 88,929 GEL in the second.
The investigation has also determined that employees of the City Hall of Poti Municipality failed to respond to issues in rehabilitation works by the companies that provided services, signed the acts of delivery and acceptance of services, and by doing so, they enabled the heads of the companies to appropriate financial resources. For this kind of patronage, the Head of the City Hall of Poti Municipality, from his part, received a bribe in the amount of 170,000 GEL from the service provider," reads the statement.
The investigation into the case is in progress under articles 180, 182, 338, 332, 342 and 210 of the Criminal Code of Georgia envisaging a prison sentence of 11 to 15 years.
Gvantsa Chanturia
News Author