The officers of Tbilisi Police Main Investigation Division under Tbilisi Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested A.B. (DoB 2000), (previously convicted for similar crimes) was detained on charges of unauthorized access to a computer system for financial benefits as a result of investigative activities.

The committed crime envisages from 5 to 7 years of imprisonment.

The investigation established that the accused person logged into the Facebook pages of 3 citizens in July and August of the current year without permission. A.B. contacted the users’ Facebook friends, fraudulently appropriated bank’s plastic card data and Internet banking SMS passwords, allowing him to commit an unauthorized access to their bank accounts by misleading as a result of which detainee misappropriate the victims’ finances.

On October 2021, A.B. also hacked the Facebook page of a clergyman of Tabori Monastery located in Tbilisi without permission and contacted his parish on his behalf. Allegedly, A.B. fraudulently appropriated bank plastic card details and Internet banking SMS passwords from the parishioners in order to transfer the cash abroad, allowing him to illegally access their accounts and misappropriate amounts of money.

The investigation also found that A.B. transacted and misappropriated funds from the deceived citizens through Facebook first to the online casino account and to his own bank accounts afterwards.

During the search of the detainee’s apartment, the police found facts confirming the unauthorized access into the Facebook pages and bank accounts of the victims identified in various cases on his personal computer.

According to the investigation, due A. B."s criminal actions, 10 citizens are affected at this stage, the financial damage has amounted to 100 thousand GEL. The number of victims may increase to 30, as investigative activities are underway which may increase the amount of damage to 300,000 GEL.

The investigation is underway under Article 2861, Part II, Sub-paragraph “B” of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which stipulates unauthorized access to the computer system resulting in a significant financial damage.