Saakashvili spent $6 mln from Georgian budget on personal needs - prosecutor's office
TBILISI. Aug 13 (Interfax) - Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is accused of embezzling budget funds.
Saakashvili spent "significant sums" on personal needs and his family via State Security funds, the Georgian Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday.
The former president spent a total of 8.8 million lari (around $6 million) illegally and these expanses include hotels, massage therapists, buying souvenirs, food etc., the prosecutor's office said.
For instance, a Spanish chef and personal designer of the former president cost the budget 300,000 lari ($180,000), Saakashvili's weight-loss procedure cost the budget $113,000. The former Georgian president spent 500,000 lari (approximately $300,000).
An accusation is also brought regarding former head of president's security service Teimuraz Janashia, who ensured secrecy of the expenditures on Saakashvili's personal needs.
The former president is facing seven to nine years in prison if courts find him guilty.
Saakashvili is abroad and does not intend to return to Georgia. The former president said that all accusations brought regarding him were politically motivated.
The former president is also accused of abuse of office during the dispersal of opposition rally, closing the Imedi TV company and illegal seizure of property of businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili.
