People arrested for defrauding internally displaced person
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Tuesday, July 19
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has announced they detained a “group of criminals” which tried to swindle money from the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) with the promise to help her get a flat in Tbilisi.
The Ministry said the group, which was composed of three people, cheated the Internally Displaced woman, claiming they had connections in the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia, and would support her in finding a home in the Olympic Village near Tbilisi Sea, where the Ministry of Refugees purchased flats for the most vulnerable Internally Displaced families.
“A total of 7,000 USD was handed to the group as an advance sum, while a further 8,000 USD was supposed to be handed to them after finishing the job. We found the money while searching their car,” the MIA said.
The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia released a statement in the wake of the MIA report, calling on IDPs not to get involved in such deals with any individual.
The Ministry said the delivering of flats to IDP families in the Olympic Village “is a very transparent process and no one can gain advantage in the situation through illegal connections.”
Zviad Latibashvili, the Ministry of Refugees’ Audit Department representative, said about seven acts of fraud directed at IDPs have been revealed since 2012.
"We have been provided with information over this latest act of fraud by one of our beneficiaries,” Latibashvili said.
