Those accused of fraudulently embezzling funds intended for free canteens were granted bail

The court has granted bail to five individuals accused of dishonestly providing services to beneficiaries of free canteens and fraudulently embezzling large amounts of state funds as a preventive measure.

The decision was made by Tbilisi City Court Judge Meia Melkadze.

In particular, Rezo Aladashvili, director of Aladashvili & Co LLC, was granted bail of 100,000 GEL, while one of his employees and the directors of three subcontractor companies were granted bail of 50,000 GEL each.

The defendants will leave the prison after paying bail.

At today's trial, the prosecution requested the use of the most severe preventive measure - imprisonment - against the detainees. However, after the defendants admitted the crime, expressed their willingness to compensate for the damage and cooperate with the investigation, the prosecutor's office took into account the above circumstances and agreed to the use of prison bail.

At the court hearing, both Rezo Aladashvili and the other defendants, who are directors of subcontractor companies, pleaded guilty.

According to their explanation, they reflected in the acceptance and delivery acts that the food services were provided to more beneficiaries than the actual number, as a result of which they fraudulently appropriated the funds.

For information, the State Security Service arrested five individuals on charges of fraudulently embezzling a large amount of state funds and aiding in the aforementioned crime.

They were charged under Article 180, Part 3, Subparagraph “b”, as well as Articles 25 and 180, Part 3, Subparagraph “b”, which provides for a sentence of 6 to 9 years of imprisonment.

According to the State Security Service, the director of LLC “Aladashvili & co”, together with LLC “Gids”, LLC “Bade” and LLC “Alion”, in 2024-2026 dishonestly served up to 14,451 beneficiaries daily and improperly fulfilled their obligations.

According to the agency, by forging product acceptance and delivery acts, the defendants fraudulently appropriated a large amount of money belonging to the state - 3,529,000 GEL - out of 18,909,104 GEL received from the district administrations.