An anti-corruption campaign targeting former high ranking Georgian officials may hide a drive by Georgia’s eminence grise, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, to get rid of associates that have become too ambitious.
In recent months, the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office has launched several criminal cases on corruption charges against former high-ranking officials. Accusations of large-scale money laundering have been brought, in particular, against Irakli Garibashvili, who twice served as prime minister and was considered one of the most loyal and close associates of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire who founded the Georgian Dream, a party that’s been in power since 2012.
Alongside Garibashvili, two other former senior officials have been implicated in the corruption scandal — the former head of the State Security Service (SSSG) Grigol Liluashvili and former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze.
What is notable in this situation is that until recently, the Georgian Dream had completely denied the existence of corruption within the political elite. The opposition, however, views the current developments with skepticism and considers them a sign of internal division within the ruling party itself.
Garibashvili’s trove of gold and jewelry
According to SSSG and the Prosecutor’s office, seven million dollars in cash, gold bars, and expensive jewelry was discovered during searches on October 17 in the homes Irakli Garibashvili, Grigol Liluashvili, Otar Partskhaladze, and eight other individuals.
Just a few days later, the State Security Service reported that the former prime minister had been questioned by the Anti-Corruption Agency and admitted to receiving illegal income.
“He fully cooperated with the investigation and confessed to receiving illegal income for many years. Accordingly, in the coming days, based on the available and additional evidence, the investigation will consider both the legal qualification of his actions and the measure of restraint to be applied,” the SSSG said.
In addition, on October 22, the Deputy Head of the Investigation Department of the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office announced the arrest of Koba Khundadze — a person connected to former security chief Grigol Liluashvili. During the search, more than 1,300,000 dollars were seized from Khundadze, sorted into 94 envelopes. And from the bank safes of Mikheil Chokheli, connected to former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze, investigators seized about 3 million dollars.
On October 24, the Prosecutor General’s Office formally charged Irakli Garibashvili with large-scale money laundering, but declined to order its arrest as a preventive measure. If found guilty, the politician faces between 9 and 12 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, Garibashvili, who served as Minister of Defense and Prime Minister between 2019 and 2024, secretly engaged in business, while in office, and received illegal income on a large scale. To cover up his tracks and wash the money, he claimed in his asset declarations that he had received donations from a relative. He also purchased and registered on the name of an afiliated person two vehicles worth almost 150,000 EUR. In parallel, more than 1 million EUR were invested through a company registered on the name of a family member. The court set bail for Garibashvili at one million lari (about 320,000 EUR). The former prime minister is prohibited from leaving the country, and his passport has been seized. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 16.
Garibashvili himself said nothing during the court session. He is represented by three lawyers, who stated that they agree with the prosecution’s request. They noted that he has never evaded investigators, never left the country, and always appeared for questioning when summoned.
Attorney Mikheil Shakulashvili added: “From inexpensive medicines to bringing peace to our country — this person is a positive figure.”
Another lawyer for Garibashvili, Lili Gelashvili, stated that admitting to receiving illegal income does not necessarily mean admitting corruption.
Garibashvili has not appeared in public or made any comments to the media during this period.
As for Otar Partskhaladze, in recent years he has been living in Russia and, according to available information, changed his surname to Romanov. It is also known that Partskhaladze attended the military parade on Red Square in Moscow on May 9, 2025. Since 2023, the United States has imposed personal sanctions on Partskhaladze.
The falling from grace of oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili’s “loyal soldier”
Irakli Garibashvili has always been considered a close associate of billionaire and founder of the Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Before entering politics, he headed the Cartu Bank Foundation, owned by Ivanishvili.
After the Georgian Dream won the 2012 elections, Irakli Garibashvili first headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and just a year later took the prime minister’s chair. The position of head of government was given to the 31-year-old politician personally by Bidzina Ivanishvili, who at that time announced that he was leaving politics (Ivanishvili would later change his mind). Garibashvili thus became the youngest prime minister in Georgia’s history.
The key event of his first term was the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU, which the Georgian Dream presented as exclusively its own achievement, although negotiations with Brussels had begun several years before the change of power.
Garibashvili kept his job for just over two years. His resignation came unexpectedly in December 2015, right before the New Year. At the time, some media linked the resignation to rumors of corruption involving his relatives. Garibashvili’s family members had obtained a number of prestigious positions, and reportedly at some point Ivanishvili grew tired of this.
In his farewell speech, Garibashvili said: “Today I am leaving my post, but I remain a loyal soldier of my homeland.”
Just a few years later, Irakli Garibashvili returned to Georgian politics and became defense minister. He received a second chance to serve as prime minister in February 2021. His new term was marked by Georgia’s refusal to join anti-Russian sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine, as well as by an intensification of anti-Western rhetoric.
During his second stint as a prime minister Garibashvili again found himself in a corruption scandal. In September 2023, he was accused of using a government aircraft to travel with his family. First he flew to Germany via charter, and from there to the United States, together with his son, who was about to start university studies over there. Garibashvili insisted that he paid for the trip himself, but when journalists began investigating how he could afford such an expensive private flight, he claimed that the charter was paid for by his father, a pensioner.
Garibashvili officially announced his second resignation from the post of prime minister on January 29, 2024 — just a month after Bidzina Ivanishvili returned once more to Georgian politics. Then, last April, after months of rumors surrounding him, Irakli Garibashvili announced his departure from Georgian politics.
Under the current prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, almost all ministers considered Garibashvili’s appointees have resigned. Moreover, in recent months, former economy minister Romeo Mikautadze and former defense minister Juansher Burchuladze have been arrested on corruption charges. A relative of Grigol Liluashvili, Bichiko Paikidze, is also wanted, while his business partner, businessman Mamuka Zhgenti, has been arrested. The total amount of embezzlement officially attributed to these individuals amounts to tens of millions of lari.
Garibashvili himself and those around him have tried in every way to reject the allegation. The last time the former prime minister appeared in public was on the day of the municipal elections on October 4. Journalists from opposition channels asked him whether he expected to be arrested. “You are pathetic,” Garibashvili replied.
However, with dark clouds gathering around him, Garibashvili may be trying to get some favors from his former boss: a few days before news of the search of Garibashvili’s home became public, his wife, Nunu Tamazashvili, changed her social media cover photo to an image of Garibashvili with Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Intrigue rather than a fight against corruption
Some in the opposition do not rule out that Ivanishvili may have viewed his former associates — who potentially hold damaging information about him — as a threat. According to former National Bank President and ex-MP Roman Gotsiridze, former SSSG head Grigol Liluashvili posed a particular danger.
As for Garibashvili, Gotsiridze believes Ivanishvili mistrusts him precisely because he has not been hit by Western sanctions, unlike hundreds of other Dream-linked officials.
Another theory is that these officials might have been linked to the events of October 4, 2025, when the opposition allegedly attempted a “peaceful overthrow” that ended in a failed seizure of the presidential palace and arrests of many participants. Political scientist Gia Khukhashvili says that in Liluashvili’s case, an accusation of state treason seems more plausible than a multiyear corruption case.
Media reports also mention Liluashvili in connection with the October 4 events. According to a source from the Georgian channel Formula, he allegedly played a double role — maintaining contacts with the opposition while informing the authorities.
Some also suggest the raids may be connected to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s October 15 statement about cooperation between a former Dream member and the “radical opposition.”
Many among the government’s opponents see the ongoing raids and arrests less as a real fight against corruption and more as an internal power struggle. They believe Bidzina Ivanishvili knew about Garibashvili’s misdeeds long before the dramatic exposure.
“In truth, what’s happening with Garibashvili now has nothing to do with fighting corruption or justice — it’s simple racketeering by Bidzina. Very likely — and we said this earlier — he (Ivanishvili) demanded that Garibashvili return money to his ‘black fund’, but Garibashvili refused. He said he could only return part, because he simply doesn’t have the rest. What we see now is probably an attempt to force him to give it all back,” said United National Movement member Anna Tsitslidze.
Political scientist Gia Khukhashvili, in turn, argues that this isn’t about corruption – it’s a process of property redistribution.
“Everyone knew Garibashvili was involved in corruption, everyone knew he ran illegal business, and he was not alone — that’s the basis of the entire system. Any authoritarian regime is built on corruption and illegal income, because authoritarianism cannot exist without illegal money and corruption. This monstrous system needs constant replenishment.
What chance would Garibashvili have had for illegal income if he weren’t prime minister?
The government’s goal has never been to fight corruption or catch Garibashvili, Liluashvili, or others. Their goal is to get their money back. How this ends depends on what they agree on. The negotiation process is in its final stages, but it is not over. The law here is used not to fight corruption, but to force the return of money,” the analyst says.
Transparency International Georgia argues that the current “fight against corruption” reflects a political war inside the ruling party. According to the head of the organization, Eki Gigauri, for years when TI and the media raised alarms about elite corruption, the Georgian Dream dismissed it as a lie, claiming corruption in the country was defeated. Yet in the last five years alone, Transparency International documented 250 cases of elite corruption. According to the organization, 221 high-ranking officials are implicated, including 38 ministers and deputy ministers, 40 members of parliament, 17 judges, and 67 senior municipal officials.
Until recently, Georgian Dream had consistently denied corruption at elite levels. Now, they seem to be presenting the purge of a political rival within their own ranks as a crackdown on graft, argue activists.
