Former Defense Minister Burchuladze Arrested on Corruption and Money Laundering Charges
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, September 12, 2025
Georgia's State Security Service (SSSG) has arrested former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze on charges of abuse of office and money laundering in connection with more than GEL 1.5 million. The case follows the July arrests of three former Defense Ministry officials.
The head of the SSSG's anti-corruption agency, Emzar Gagnidze, announced the arrest at a briefing on September 11. He also confirmed that opposition figures from the United National Movement, Levan Khabeishvili and Murtaz Zodelava, had been detained in separate bribery-related cases.
According to Gagnidze, Burchuladze conspired with his then-deputy Giorgi Khaindrava, the head of the Defense Ministry's procurement department, and a close relative to manipulate the price of a medical procurement contract. The ministry paid nearly GEL 3.9 million for an MRI machine whose market value was just over GEL 2.6 million. Investigators said the inflated deal caused losses of more than GEL 1.3 million to the state.
"At Juansher Burchuladze's instruction, to secure profit for himself and V.M., the then-deputy defense minister G.Kh. and the then-head of the ministry's procurement department V.Gh., with the help of the minister's close relative, purposefully created a non-competitive environment during the Defense Ministry's procurement of an MRI machine," Gagnidze said. "The real market value of the machine was artificially inflated, and an MRI machine worth GEL 2,606,272 was supplied for GEL 3,940,000. The criminal actions caused property damage of GEL 1,333,728 to the Ministry of Defense."
The security service also accused Burchuladze of concealing the origins of illicit income by purchasing property abroad. Officials said that in January 2025 he and his family bought a house and land in Spain's Malaga province for 544,000 euros. To hide the transaction, he allegedly used a fake sale agreement for a property in Tskneti that had not actually been sold and disguised the purchase through fictitious loans. The property was not included in his March asset declaration.
"Through these methods, Juansher Burchuladze laundered illegal or unjustified income in the particularly large amount of GEL 1,593,212," Gagnidze stated.
The investigation is being pursued under articles of the Georgian criminal code that cover abuse of office and large-scale money laundering, which carry prison sentences of nine to twelve years.
In recent weeks, Georgian Dream has amended the criminal code to prevent individuals convicted of serious financial crimes from leaving the country after serving their sentences until they repay damages.
