Overview
- Prosecutors said they signed a plea agreement under which Irakli Garibashvili pleaded guilty to large-scale money laundering and received a five-year prison term.
- His lawyer said he was taken into custody, and prosecutors added that he must pay a 1 million lari fine.
- Authorities reported seizing $6.5 million in cash during October searches of his residence conducted in an anti-corruption operation.
- Prosecutors said he admitted receiving illegal income for years and was accused of laundering funds between 2019 and 2024.
- The conviction is the first for a senior figure from the governing elite in the current round of cases, which analysts view as either an anti-corruption drive or a sign of fractures within Georgian Dream.