Borjomi Mayor, Sakrebulo Chairman Arrested on Corruption Charges

The Anti-Corruption Agency of the Georgian State Security Service has arrested Levan Lipartia and Giorgi Gogichaishvili, Borjomi Municipality Mayor and Chairman of Borjomi Municipality Assembly (Sakrebulo), respectively, on corruption charges. According to the State Security Service, the third person has also been arrested on charges of “failure to report particularly serious crime.”

In a statement released on February 29, the State Security Service noted that the chairman of Borjomi Municipality Sakrebulo demanded a GEL 200,000 (approximately USD 71,700) bribe from an entrepreneur in exchange for submitting the Development Regulation Plan to the Sakrebulo session and issuing a construction permit. According to the State Security Service, the Sakrebulo chairman requested GEL 20,000 (approximately USD 7,200) in advance and was caught red-handed.

The State Security Service also reported that the Mayor of Borjomi Municipality demanded GEL 10,500 (approximately USD 3,800) from an entrepreneur in exchange for covering up illegal construction in Bakuriani, skiing resort in Borjomi Municipality, and had already taken GEL 8,000 (approximately USD 2,900) from him by the moment of arrest.

The investigation has been launched under article 338 of the criminal code of Georgia, involving bribe-taking in large quantities, especially large quantities and failure to report particularly serious crime that is punished by imprisonment for a term of seven to eleven years, eleven to fifteen years and three to seven years, respectively.

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