Ex-Tbilisi Mayor Found Guilty of Exceeding Powers

Gigi Ugulava, former Mayor of Tbilisi from 2005-2013, has been found guilty of exceeding official powers by Tbilisi City Court and sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in jail.

However, the ex-Mayor was not sent to prison because other sentences by the Tbilisi Court of Appeals against Ugulava have absorbed the sentence. This means that the term determined from yesterday’s sentence will be regarded as already served by Ugulava.

The former Tbilisi Mayor was released from prison in early January, 2017 on the basis of a verdict by the Tbilisi Appellate Court.

Ugulava was charged with misspending in 2014 in Tbilservice Group Case.

In the year from 2010 to 2011, Ugulava allegedly embezzled more than four million GEL of public funds. The money he embezzled was used to create 800 fictitious job positions within the municipal service Tbilservice Group, through which funds were allegedly used to pay the salaries of then-ruling UNM party members.

Ugulava was initially arrested in July 2014 for the misappropriation of funds and embezzlement. He was sentenced to a seven-month pre-trial detention. After this, in September 2015, he was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison. This prison term was reduced to four years and six months.

By Thea Morrison

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