Investigative Service Reveals 22 Illegal Currency Exchange Points in Adjara and Guria Regions

Employees of the Investigative Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia have revealed 22 illegal currency exchange points in Adjara and Guria regions.

According to the Investigative Service, the investigation revealed that the aforementioned currency exchange points were arranged in violation of the requirements set forth by the legislation and operated without the relevant permit of the National Bank of Georgia.

As part of the large-scale measures, based on a court ruling, searches were simultaneously conducted at 22 locations, during which a particularly large amount of Georgian and foreign currency, computer equipment and relevant inventory required for currency conversion were seized.

The total value of the seized currency exceeds 500,000 GEL.

Intensive investigative actions are underway to identify the persons involved in the above-mentioned criminal acts.

The investigation is underway under Article 192, Part 2, Subparagraph “a” of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for imprisonment for a term of 3 to 5 years.