Prosecutor's Office Responds to TBC Bank Founders' Statement

The Prosecutor General's Office denies the information spread by TBC Bank founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, according to which the agency is planning to hold a closed meeting with diplomats on September 6, where the findings related to the Khazaradze-Japaridze case, prepared by two international experts hired by the same Office, will be introduced.

The Agency says foreign experts are involved in the criminal case against Khazaradze and Japaridze, and their findings will be introduced to international organizations and diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia.

“As for the information spread by the defendants about the so-called closed meeting scheduled for September 6, we would like to state that no such meeting has been scheduled. The report prepared by highly qualified foreign experts will be introduced to international organizations, diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia and other stakeholders", reads the statement.

The Prosecutor's Office also points out that "it is absolutely inadequate and unacceptable to cast doubt on the impartiality of lawyers with international authority by saying they were instructed to prepare a report by the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia."

Co-Founders of JSC TBC Bank, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, released a joint statement yesterday saying that the Prosecutor’s Office has summoned the representatives of the diplomatic corps to a closed meeting on September 6, where the findings related to the Khazaradze-Japaridze case, prepared by two international experts hired by the same Office, will be introduced.

“The Prosecutor's Office is trying to shift the responsibility for their politicized decision, which has no legal basis, to the diplomatic corps”, the statement reads.

In their statement, co-founders of TBC Bank remind the Prosecutor’s Office that according to the Georgian Constitution, the only legitimate space where the prosecution can present evidence and prove one’s guilt is in a court trial. 

“We demand a transparent investigation of the case, in compliance with all the standards guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia and international human rights law. If the authorities wish to involve international experts in the investigation, we consider that these experts should not be lawyers hired by the Prosecutor's Office, irrespective of their qualifications, but lawyers with independent international authority who will be able to provide complete and comprehensive information on the case and be able to create their own opinion regarding the current case independently”, the statement reads.

The Prosecutor’s Office officially charged Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze on July 24 for money laundering, having launched an investigation into the fact on 2 August 2018.

“Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze are charged for the laundering of $16,754.000, as a result of which they received a large amount of income,” said the Prosecutor General's Office.

The Tbilisi City Court ordered 700,000 GEL bail from each of them on July 26.

"Co-founders of JSC TBC Bank, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, paid the bail ordered on them by Tbilisi City Court – 700,000 GEL each," announced Khazaradze’s lawyer, Zviad Kordzadze.

Related Story: TBC Bank Co-founders Release Statement

By Ana Dumbadze