Head of the board of directors of Tbilisi Bank Mamuka Khazaradze and his deputy Badri Japaridze, who founded the bank 27 years ago, have left their posts at the bank after being charged with laundering $16.7 million yesterday.
Khazaradze wrote late on July 24 that he and Japaridze were unanimously [by 98 per cent of votes] re-elected to the roles by the bank’s shareholders in London on June 24, 2019.
However, he said, due to the turmoil caused by the charges, bank’s stocks have been depreciated by 12 per cent over the past several hours, costing shareholders some $130 million.
We are leaving the posts until the investigation is over,” Khazaradze said.
He says that the investigation is “absurd,” and is related to the large-scale Anaklia Port Project. The Georgian government denies this.
Khazaradze and Japaridze announced their resignation from the bank’s board amid a row related to the investigation back in February 2019.
Earlier in the month Khazaradze said that he will create a civic movement in September as the government and political parties “are failing to combat the problems Georgia faces.”