Since the early morning of the 24th of October, three days before elections, the Investigative Services of the Ministry of Finance have conducted several searches which have raised questions regarding the goals of state body. These searches were conducted on employees of the Atlantic Council, an American think-tank that, among other things works on Russian information operations against Georgia.
First, Giorgi noniashvili (a politician and founder of the newly formed Federalist Party, which is not running in these elections) reported on Facebook that his home had been searched by the Ministry of Finance, and all electronic equipment belonged to him, his spouse and even his minor son. Noniashvili is married to Sopo Gelava who works for the Atlantic Council.
According to her, she said that the Ministry’s investigative services was investigating alleged tax evasion of the company hired by Atlantic Council for employment contracts. Gelava, however, believes that the Finance Ministry‘s intentions are questionable as they come just three days before elections. She clarified that the work she does is directly related with politics, research into disinformation, Russian influence and interference in Georgia, as well as Russian interference prior to the parliamentary election.
The Ministry of Finance also conducted a search of the home of Eto Biziashvili, a second employee of Atlantic Council. Buziashvili told Formula TV that officials from the Ministry of Finance deceived them when they entered her home, claiming to be checking technical problems related to gas. She said that the search took almost two hours. She was also denied her right to contact an attorney.
She was summoned to be questioned: “The only thing that they mentioned was that they were interested in my organisation, the Atlantic Council an American non-governmental group. We are studying Russian intelligence operations in depth.”
She claimed that the officials took her laptop and all of her other technical items. “I work at home, and my laptop is the most valuable thing to me. My work is directly connected to the search for Russian Information Process around the world, including in Georgia. For example, how Russians interfered in Georgia’s election, now I am working on these topics which I hope will eventually be published as I have finished writing.”
According to media reports, the case has been investigated under three criminal articles: money laundering, fraud, and tax evasion.
On the same day, the Investigation Service of Georgia’s Ministry of Finance also conducted searches of American companies that operate in Georgia as well as of individuals who are critical of the Georgian government. The Ministry’s service said that the searches were in relation to the so-called Fraud Call Centers.
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