"How Did He Get Beyond State Security Service Control? We Will Shed Light" - Okhanshvili on Mikautadze

Romeo Mikautadze served as Deputy Minister of Economy in 2021-2022 and then as First Deputy Minister from December 30, 2022, to February 11, 2024. During this period, the State Security Service was led by Grigol Liluashvili. Georgian Dream nominated Anri Okhanashvili as the new head of the SSS on April 2. Liluashvili was supposed to be appointed as the Minister of Regional Development, but was not.

Romeo Mikautadze was arrested on June 20.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the investigation has established that Romeo Mikautadze, while holding senior positions in various agencies between 2017 and 2024, systematically abused his official authority and received substantial illicit income.

“In 2021, the former First Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development abused his official position for personal gain, acting against the public interest. He assisted one company in selling an LLC he had personally founded to another company for $4,400,000, in return for which he received approximately $400,000 from the mentioned company.

To conceal and disguise the origin of the especially large amount of illegal and unjustified property obtained as a result of corrupt activities, which he could not legally justify, the accused carried out the following actions to legitimize this property:

In 2023, the family of the former First Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development transferred 599,955 Euros from the Bank of Georgia to purchase a 120 sq.m. apartment in Madrid, the capital of Spain. This amount was transferred from the bank account of the accused's spouse, which she had deposited in cash into her account on June 26, 2023.

Since the accused and his spouse could not trace the legal origin of the mentioned 600,000 Euros (GEL 1,713,600), and to disguise the unknown origin of this money, as a result of an agreement between the accused and persons criminally connected to him, a fake official document, a sales agreement, was prepared. According to this agreement, it was falsely stated that a person fictitiously listed as a buyer, the pensioner mother of the accused's friend, was supposed to pay 600,000 Euros for real estate registered in the name of the accused's spouse. In reality, the accused's family did not sell this property, and the purpose of the agreement was solely to disguise the origin of the money to be transferred to Spain.

Furthermore, the former First Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, to conceal and disguise the source of the especially large amount of illegal and unjustified property obtained as a result of the aforementioned corrupt activities, purchased two vehicles: a 2023 MERCEDES BENZ G 63 AMG and a 2023 LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER, with a total value of GEL 842,592. These vehicles were formally registered in the names of persons trusted by him and his spouse.

At this stage of the investigation, it is established that using the mentioned methods, the accused, with the assistance of persons criminally connected to him, legalized an illegal and unjustified income of especially large amounts, totaling GEL 2,556,192.

He has been charged under Article 332, Part 2 and Article 194, Part 3, Sub-point C of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for a penalty of up to 12 years of imprisonment."