(Read full article on civil.ge)

The Tbilisi City Court has ordered United National Movement-era Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili and the Head of the Procurement Department during his tenure, Aleksandre Ninua, to jointly pay EUR 5,060,000 in compensation to the Defense Ministry.

The Defense Ministry stated today that Kezerashvili — currently the majority shareholder of government-critical Formula TV — and Ninua had embezzled the money by funneling the amount to an offshore company to hold training for the Ministry. The service was not provided, however, as per the statement.

The Defense Ministry took to the Court on September 30, 2021, to seek compensation for, as they put it, Kezerashvili and Ninua’s “criminal activity.”

The development came after Kezerashvili received a ten-year sentence in absentia in the embezzlement case on September 7, after the Supreme Court overrode the 2017 acquittal ruling by the Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, Ninua had already been convicted.