Poti City Council Chairman Detained for Bribery

The Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance confirmed the detention of Irakli Kakulia, Chairman of the Poti City Council, along with three other persons involved in illegal activities.

It was announced at Friday's briefing held by the Agency that law enforcers detained four persons, including three acting and one former public servant, as a result of operative search and investigation activities.

The detainees are charged with misappropriation and embezzlement of large amounts of state property, bribery, abuse of power, negligence, and production and use of false documents. 

“The investigation established that two contracts were signed by Poti Municipality in 2015 and 2017, including rehabilitation of the coastline in Poti. In the course of the work, contractor executives provided false data on the amount of work performed in their records, as a result of which they misappropriated government funds. The expertise revealed that  GEL 528,821 was misappropriated in total. 

The investigation also established that Poti City Hall officials did not respond appropriately to violations by work-producing companies and signed a document confirming that the works had been delivered, thus encouraging company executives to misappropriate the funds. In return for such official protection, the head of the Poti municipality demanded a bribe and received the sum of GEL 170,000 while performing his official duties.

The investigation is in progress under Articles 180, 182, 338, 332, 332, 342 and 210 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which envisages imprisonment from 11 to 15 years.

"The issue of responsibility of other persons will be raised in the near future,” the representatives of the Agency stated at the briefing.

By Ana Dumbadze