Akhobadze's GEL 500,000 Bail Secured by Property

The court secured the GEL 500,000 bail set for Levan Akhobadze, former deputy head of the State Security Service, who is charged in a corruption case, with his property.

At today's court hearing, which was scheduled unexpectedly, the defense filed a motion requesting that the bail set for Akhobadze be secured with his property. The court granted the motion.

Akhobadze had been placed in pretrial detention, the strictest preventive measure. At the previous hearing, the court replaced it with a GEL 500,000 bail and set a 30-day period for payment.

Levan Akhobadze was detained by the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service on the fact of taking a bribe on a particularly large scale. According to the investigation, the former deputy head of the State Security Service promised an businessman assistance in returning money through intermediaries and demanded GEL 500,000 in return, although they ultimately agreed on the transfer of GEL 250,000.

Charges have been brought under Article 338, Paragraph 3, Subparagraph "e" of the Criminal Code of Georgia. This refers to a official's direct demand and receipt of money in exchange for taking some action in favor of the bribe giver and using his official authority to achieve a similar goal, committed on a particularly large scale. The article provides for imprisonment of 11 to 15 years as punishment.