The Ministry of Internal Affairs has uncovered a fraud scheme of appropriating large sums of money from tourists in Tbilisi clubs. The officers of the Main Division for Combating Organized Crime under the Central Criminal Police Department arrested 13 members of an organized criminal group on charges of fraud as a result of operative and investigative activities carried out together with the General Prosecutor's Office.
The members of the criminal group were earning a solid income by committing fraudulent acts against foreign tourists. Defendants forced tourists to pay inappropriate, unrealistic, large sums of money for the services ordered by deception, under threats, physical and psychological pressure. Their criminal actions seriously damaged Georgia's image as a tourist country and the reputation of a safe environment in our state.
As a result of several months of intensive complex investigative activities, the police arrested the following persons on the basis of the relevant court decision: Armenian citizens - A.A. (DoB 1997), A.S. (DoB 1996), T. H. (DoB 1997). as well as Georgian citizens - N.G. (DoB 1998), Kh. B. (DoB1982) L.Ts. (DoB 2001), T. Sh. (DoB 1995), V. K. (DoB 1991), M.G. (DoB1996), E.M. (DoB 1999), N.T. (DoB 1987) N.D. (DoB1999) and N.Kh. (DoB 1999).
The mentioned persons are accused of swindle committed by an organized group, which caused significant damage.
The committed crime envisions from 7 to 10 years of imprisonment.
The investigation has established that the accused women, who were employed in clubs - "Kalakuri" and "Royal" in Tbilisi as the so-called “promo girls” were criminally allied with A.A., owner of the clubs, managers - A.A. and T.H. In order to get more financial benefits, they invited male foreign tourist to Georgia to the clubs and ordered various foods and drinks without their consent. After the order, the waiter involved in the fraudulent scheme brought a check to foreign tourists and defendants and forced them to pay unreasobaly large sums for the services ordered.
Law enforcement officers, during a search of the club "Royal", seized - 980 GEL, 2,712 USD, 1,815 EUR, 64,500 Russian rubles, 500 Swiss francs, 712 Arabic dirhams and 3,550 Australian dollars presumably obtained as a result of illegal activities.
During the personal search and search activities held in residential houses of the accused persons, mobile phones, bank cards and various documents were also seized.
Operative-search and investigative activities are underway in order to identify other circumstances related to the case of fraudulent misappropriation of large sums of tourists and to identify and arrest other persons related to the mentioned facts.
The case is being investigated under Article 180, Part II, Subparagraphs “B” and Part IV, Subparagraph “A” of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which stipulates fraud committed by an organized group, which caused significant damage.
