Head of Charity Fund Demands Suspension of Investigation

Famous operatic bass of Georgia, Paata Burcguladze, founder of the charity foundation Iavnana, has demanded the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia (POG) suspend investigation into the alleged misappropriation and embezzlement of the foundation’s money.

Burchuladze also asks for an apology from the POG, saying the investigation against the Heads of the foundation have no real grounds and only serve for his political persecution, as he was once an opponent of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD).

“I call on the Prosecutor’s Office to stop this shameless persecution…Their actions are just a performance which damage the interests of the people who were beneficiaries of the fund,” he stated at a special press-conference.

The head of the PR Department of Iavnana, Teona Jorbenadze, says all documents of incomes and expenditures are in the office and no embezzlement of foundation money has taken place.

“The POG is investigating the money spent on plane tickets…It is obvious that we needed to bring artists to the concerts: they cannot hold performances by Skype!” she noted.

The Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia launched an investigation into the possible misappropriation and embezzlement of large amounts of money by heads of the Iavnana foundation on September 20, 2017.

On October 8, the POG released a statement regarding the investigation, saying in 2004-2017 only 30% of funds attracted by the organization were spent on charitable purposes.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the purpose of the investigation is to determine what funds were received by the organization in 2004-2017 and whether or not these funds were used for charity.

POG says the first phase of the investigation looks at money spent by the foundation for the coverage of the travel costs of Burchuladze and his wife. According to the agency, the fund spent 700,000 GEL on that travel.

The second phase, according to the statement, applies to Paata Burchuladze's expenses for hotel services in Georgia, which amounted to 40,000 GEL according to the Prosecutor's Office.

The third part of the investigation refers to the lease of real estate in the ownership of the Fund. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the property was transferred to the Fund from the state for a symbolic price for the purposes of charity. The fund rented out the building to an enterprise running a restaurant and the income received from the lease was meant for Iavnana charitable purposes.

“The enterprise was not paying rent to the fund properly or on time, as a result of which the fund did not get GEL 0.5 million,” the agency added.

The POG stressed that in 2004-2017, the cost of airline tickets of and the salary of Burchuladze’s wife Angela Vasilenko, whose role in the fund was undetermined, amounted to GEL 254,000, of which the salary is 25,000 GEL and other costs amounted to GEL 337,000.

By Thea Morrison

Image source: RFE/RL