Recently leaked property data has shed light on an unsettling discovery regarding Anton Obolashvili, a member of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party and a wealthy businessman. According to the leaked information, Obolashvili failed to disclose his luxury assets in Dubai in his annual asset declarations, attributing the omission to “human error”.
Anton Obolashvili, who rose to political prominence after being elected to parliament in 2020, had amassed his wealth through success in the pharmaceutical business. Before entering politics, he relinquished control over his shares in various companies and transferred them to his wife, complying with legal requirements. As a public servant, Obolashvili was obligated to fill out annual asset declarations to declare his income and assets.
In 2021, Obolashvili reported an annual income of nearly $450,000, making him one of the highest earners in parliament. His declared assets included luxury watches and his wife’s Porsche Cayenne. However, journalists from Studio Monitori, an OCCRP member center in Georgia, discovered that he had omitted significant details.
According to the leaked data from 2020, Obolashvili owns two luxury apartments in Dubai with a combined worth of over $1.2 million, which he never declared in his asset declarations. Furthermore, he also failed to disclose the rental income he received from one of these properties. This failure to report the properties and income is a direct violation of Georgian law, which requires officials to declare all real estate holdings and income, including those of their family members, or face fines.
When questioned by a Studio Monitori reporter about the undisclosed properties in Dubai, Obolashvili initially appeared surprised and claimed ignorance. However, in a subsequent email to OCCRP, he acknowledged owning the properties and earning income from them. He attributed the omission to “human error” and promised to include the properties in next year’s declaration.
One of Obolashvili’s Dubai properties is a two-bedroom apartment on the 56th floor of the Elite Residence skyscraper, valued at over $440,000. The leaked information also revealed that he earns rental income of over $20,000 per year from this property. In addition to this, Obolashvili owns another one-bedroom apartment worth over $760,000 on Palm Jumeirah, a prestigious man-made island in Dubai.
Furthermore, the investigation found that Obolashvili had never declared a parking space he purchased for 58,000 euros in Paris in 2019, despite declaring an apartment co-owned with his wife in the same city.
Georgia introduced a mechanism for monitoring public officials’ asset declarations in 2017, requiring them to disclose their assets and finances, as well as those of their family members, annually. However, the mechanism has had limited success in combating corruption, with over half of the verified declarations from last year being incomplete or inaccurate in declaring family members and assets. Although fines were imposed on some officials, there is little deterrence, as the penalties are one-time fines that do not adequately discourage dishonesty.
The Civil Service Bureau in Georgia claims to check real estate abroad through the exchange of information with international partners and open sources, but it remains challenging to thoroughly verify the declarations. Transparency International Georgia has expressed concern, stating that if officials are found to have undisclosed foreign properties, it should be enough reason to initiate an investigation by the prosecutor’s office.
While Obolashvili’s case has brought the issue to light, it highlights a larger problem with the asset declaration system in Georgia. Proper monitoring and enforcement mechanisms need to be established to ensure accountability and discourage public officials from concealing their assets and income, especially those held overseas.
