The General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia, as a result of international cooperation with the competent authorities of the United States and within the framework of an investigative group that also includes the Georgian State Security Service, has uncovered another transnational crime related to so-called fraudulent call centers. This was reported by the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia.
According to the department, four individuals have been detained for fraud and the legalization of illegal income committed by an organized group.
"During the investigation, it was established that members of the organized group set up a so-called call center in one of the districts of Tbilisi, where they employed operators who were proficient in foreign languages and relevant supervisors. The operators contacted U.S. citizens using various communication methods and offered participation in electronic trading operations with securities, shares, commodity assets, currencies, and cryptocurrencies, using electronic platforms created by the criminal group.
The call center employees convinced clients that, with their help, they would be able to make significant profits. In reality, however, the fraudsters took possession of the funds allocated by the victims for investment. When the victims requested the return of their invested money and profits, the scammers ceased all communication with them.
Thus, the members of the organized criminal group fraudulently obtained 1,634,000 U.S. dollars and 1 million euros, which belonged to individuals residing in the United States.
Abroad, in order to legalize the illegally obtained assets accumulated in the bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets of fictitious companies, the members of the organized group conducted multiple transactions and transferred the funds to various bank and cryptocurrency accounts controlled by the criminal organization, including in Georgia. After laundering the money, they invested it in real estate and movable property.
As a result of the investigation, based on a court order, arrests were made on the real estate and movable property obtained by criminal means, totaling several million lari, belonging to the accused and their associates, as well as on the funds in their accounts amounting to approximately 1.5 million U.S. dollars and 500,000 euros.
During searches of the accused's residences, various cryptocurrencies worth 240,000 U.S. dollars, cash of up to 400,000 dollars, and luxury items were seized. Additionally, during a search of one of the organizer's bank safes, 1,000,000 U.S. dollars was seized.
To ensure the confiscation of the aforementioned assets, suspected of having criminal origins, the prosecutor's office will carry out the necessary legal procedures.
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