Georgia's ‘Shadow Ruler’ Is Trying to Claw Back a Bitcoin Fortune Worth $1B
Georgia's de facto leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili, is aggressively pursuing his former financial advisor to seize Bitcoin holdings he believes were stolen.Summary
Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia's reclusive leader who governs from outside the formal political structure, is engaged in an extra-judicial campaign to reclaim a massive Bitcoin fortune he missed out on a decade ago. In 2015, Ivanishvili rejected a $50 million proposal from Bitfury to buy mining capacity, which could have yielded him about 190,000 Bitcoin worth over $21 billion today. Instead, his former financial advisor, George Bachiashvili, took a smaller loan from Ivanishvili’s bank to invest in mining, generating 24,000 Bitcoin. Ivanishvili now claims this mined Bitcoin was his, leading to Bachiashvili's abduction from Abu Dhabi, imprisonment on dubious charges, and a jailhouse beating. Ivanishvili's efforts include sending an extortionate settlement offer via WhatsApp, threatening escalating penalties if Bachiashvili didn't comply. The fallout has also seen Bachiashvili's lawyer flee Georgia after threats, and the resignation and subsequent death of the security service head and prison warden involved in Bachiashvili's transfer and incarceration, respectively.
(Source：CoinDesk)