Day: February 18, 2026

Call centre case in Georgia

Journalist Eliso Kiladze has been arrested in connection with an alleged scam call centre case. According to the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office, she is among several people charged, including former chief prosecutor Otar Partskhaladze, who is believed to have fled to Russia, as well as brothers Davit and Giorgi Mikadze, who are also accused of the murder of businessman Levan Jangveladze.

The prosecution said criminal cases had been opened against ten people as part of the call centre investigation, with suspects facing charges of fraud and money laundering carried out by an organised criminal group. The case concerns a scheme that operated between 2020 and 2023, in which more than 200 foreign nationals were allegedly defrauded of about $9.5m in cryptocurrency. The accused face between nine and 12 years in prison.

What does the prosecution say?

The prosecution says that between 2020 and 2023, despite the government’s declared fight against fraud, dozens of call centres were operating in the country. According to witness statements, a significant number of them were controlled by a group of individuals who financed various opposition media outlets with the proceeds and enjoyed the protection of former State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili and former prosecutor general Otar Partskhaladze.

A joint investigation by the Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office and the investigative service of the Finance Ministry found that an organised group had been operating in the country with the aim of obtaining illegal financial gains and subsequently laundering the money. The group allegedly created several legal entities, under which call centres were set up in different districts of Tbilisi, with Russian-, English-, and German-language departments.

Helsinki Commission: “Georgia’s ruling party is using black money”

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) accused the “Georgian Dream” of using black money from fraudulent call centers to fund its activities

According to the investigation, operators lured users to fake trading platforms and encouraged them to invest by promising high returns. They then fraudulently obtained large sums of money. The illegally acquired assets were distributed across various cryptocurrency wallets through numerous transactions to cover their tracks, and the funds obtained after conversion were used to run the call centres, pay salaries and bonuses, and purchase real estate and movable property.

Prosecutors say some members of the group handled the day-to-day operations, expansion, and financial management of the call centres. Others, including Giorgi and Davit Mikadze, Irakli Sekhniashvili, and Mikheil Chokheli, allegedly used Partskhaladze’s influence to protect the scheme from law enforcement and competitors.

“It is notable that, in cases where a call centre’s activities were exposed or faced such a threat, Eliso Kiladze provided legal cover for the criminal activity by spreading relevant information on various media platforms.

At the same time, to expose competing call centres not under her influence, Eliso Kiladze threatened to publish information about their locations and staff, or did so, and then created favourable conditions for recruitment through blackmail,” the statement said.

The prosecution added that the investigation and international cooperation are ongoing in order to identify other victims and possible participants in the scheme.

Call centre case in Georgia

Esteemed Mr. President,
On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I cordially …

On February 18, Azerbaijani athlete Anastasia Papatoma will start competing at the 25th Winter Olympic Games in Italy, AzerNEWS reports.

Launched in September 2022, Temu is an online marketplace that looks like what would happen if Amazon and the Dollar Store had a baby: A vast array of products from apparel and baby clothes to…

Police arrested 97 people involved in organized crime over the past two days, including 81 engaged in drug dealing and drug-related schemes, in what Georgian Dream Interior Minister Geka Geladze described as a “large-scale” and “very successful” operation.

According to Geladze, who spoke about the operation at a February 18 briefing, police seized a “particularly large quantity of various types of narcotic substances,” including heroin, cocaine, alpha-PVP, Suboxone, and buprenorphine, along with materials allegedly used for packaging and cultivating drugs and cash believed to have been obtained from drug sales.

Both Georgian and foreign citizens were arrested. According to Geladze, the detainees included a Latvian citizen who attempted to bring “more than half a kilogram of cocaine” into Georgia, as well as two Iranian citizens linked to a “drug laboratory” he said had been set up in a residential apartment in Tbilisi, where “up to half a kilogram of methamphetamine” was seized.

Additionally, 16 people were arrested over firearms, as Geladze said that “dozens of firearms, including automatic weapons and hand grenades,” were seized.

The detainees face multiple charges and could receive sentences of up to 20 years or life in prison.

In his concluding remarks, Geladze warned potential offenders, saying, “There is no argument that can protect a criminal from punishment.” He added, “On behalf of the Georgian government and all law enforcement agencies, we promise the public that our country will achieve some of the world’s most successful results in fighting crime.”

Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, speaking to the disputed Parliament under an interpellation procedure, thanked Geladze and law enforcement for what he described as their “impressive” results in tackling organized and drug-related crimes.

The arrests follow the Georgian Dream government’s stated “uncompromising” fight against drug-related and organized crime, corruption, and illegal migration. At the end of 2025, the Interior Ministry said it had arrested more than 5,000 people for drug-related offenses over seven months, including 2,000 involved in drug dealing, and vowed to continue its crackdown on drugs.

Also read:

• 22/01/2026 – Police Make ‘Unprecedented’ 88 Arrests in Drug Crackdown
• 12/12/2025 – Authorities to Create Centralized Mental Health Database Amid Rights, Stigma Concerns
• 03/07/2025 – GD Bans Drug Replacement Therapy, Psychotropic Imports for Private Sector
• 02/07/2025 – Georgian Dream Criminalizes Small Marijuana Possession

Interestingly, while Azerbaijan derives 85-90% of its national income from oil, the workforce composition tells a different story. Only 31.6 thousand people are employed in the oil and gas sector, whereas approximately 1.73 million work in non-oil sectors. Agriculture alone accounts for 36% of the employed population, yet contributes a mere 6% to GDP – a striking indicator of underutilized potential. This imbalance underscores the necessity of structural reforms and technological modernization in the sector.