The Office of the Prosecution Services of Georgia has started criminal proceedings against the three persons. They were accused of being a member of an organized group that was involved in the purchase, storage, sale, and legalization of illegal income.
They were also accused of legalizing large amounts money from sale of  illegal duty-free goods. The preliminary investigation in this regard was conducted by the investigation branch of the Ministry of Finance. The investigation revealed that in 2022-24  these person formed an organized group and systematically purchased, stored  and sold many duty-free cigarettes. They have completed all the legal formalities with the forged documents.
As a result of the said criminal act the sale of a large amount of duty-free cigarettes more than 1,384,000 GEL were deposited into the bank accounts of the members of the organized group and the persons who were also associated with them. Later  all the accused persons  with the common intention of obtaining illegal income bought real estate worth about 231,000 GEL.
After the preliminary investigation concluded and their role in the crime became crystal clear, they were arrested by the employees of the law enforcement agencies. They have been charged with the third part of Article 200, subsection “a” of the fourth part and subsections “a” and “c” of the third part of Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Georgia.
The above-mentioned section of the Georgian criminal code describes the offenses especially the purchase, storage, and sale of large amounts of duty-free goods and the legalization of illegal income. These are considered as the strict provisions of the Georgian laws. If the accused are found guilty  then the accused can be sentenced to a jail term ranging from 9 to 12.
It is to be specifically mentioned that the prosecution office has already moved the motion to use preventative measures.  Based on the prosecutor’s office’s petition  the defendants were already imprisoned as a preventive measure. This was aimed to  prevent the accused from tampering with the evidence.
