In a trial closed to the public, a Georgian court on Thursday sentenced the a close relative of the former head of the State Security Service to 12 years in prison for channeling bribes and laundering millions of dollars on behalf of a network of fraudulent call centers.
The case is part of a high-stakes corruption scandal that has reached into the upper echelons of the country’s security apparatus.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, the Tbilisi City Court found Andria Liluashvili guilty of bribery, assisting in bribe-taking, and large-scale money laundering after establishing that he acted as a key middleman for the criminal call center network.
Prosecutors said Liluashvili bought political protection through his relative, Grigol Liluashvili, who was heading the State Security Service at the time. Between 2021 and 2022, the former security chief allegedly received a total of $1.365 million in monthly kickbacks funneled through Andria in exchange for shielding the operations from law enforcement.
As part of the verdict, the court ordered a massive asset seizure, stripping the defendant of physical and financial holdings that prosecutors argued were bought with the proceeds of crime. This included 70 real estate properties valued at approximately 35 million Georgian lari (about $13 million), 17 vehicles,
125 luxury items, including fine art and high-end jewelry and numerous bank accounts used to conceal and transfer illicit funds in Georgia and abroad.
Investigators said Liluashvili routinely deposited proceeds from the call centers into various accounts, reinvested them into affiliated companies, and bought real estate globally to launder the money.
The proceedings were wrapped in deep secrecy, drawing sharp condemnation from the defense. At the request of the prosecution, the trial was held behind closed doors, and defense lawyers were required to sign strict non-disclosure agreements under threat of criminal prosecution and up to a year in prison.
Lana Tsertsvadze, the defense attorney representing Andria Liluashvili, forcefully rejected the verdict, arguing that the state failed to produce concrete evidence.
“There is absolutely no evidence that any form of bribery or patronage took place,” Tsertsvadze said. “In other words, the claim that he was 'giving a certain amount monthly' is not corroborated by any evidence whatsoever, other than the words written in the prosecutor's charges.”
Tsertsvadze added that the gag order was used to shield the state's case from public scrutiny. “The process was deliberately fully closed… precisely so that I am practically restricted from disclosing details that would absolutely dispel any objective criticism,” she said.
The sentencing marks a dramatic turn in a broader government crackdown on transnational call center fraud. Andria Liluashvili was arrested in October 2025 alongside several associates. Two months later, in December 2025, his relative, Grigol Liluashvili, was taken into custody on bribery charges spanning multiple criminal investigations.
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