Georgian Fund Manager Walks Free After Embezzling $40M in Bitcoin
Giorgi Bachiashvili, a Georgian-Russian investment manager, has been released under a plea deal after embezzling nearly $40 million worth of Bitcoin from former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The fund manager had managed assets for Ivanishvili's banking firm Cartu and was loaned the Bitcoin in 2015 to launch a mining operation. However, prosecutors say he embezzled the coins instead.
Bachiashvili fled Georgia in March 2024 but was arrested at the border with Azerbaijan shortly after. Courts had sentenced him to 11 years in absentia, then added four more for illegal flight.
The plea deal eliminated Bachiashvili's exposure to additional prison time and reduced his sentence from 15 years to a one-year suspended term. He was also ordered to pay a $19,000 fine.