The former deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia has been released from custody.

The defense convinced the court in Tbilisi to release Levan Akhobadze on bail, who had been in custody on charges of receiving a large bribe.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", at the end of May, the court in Tbilisi sent to custody former deputy head of the State Security Service Levan Akhobadze, accused of receiving a large bribe for assistance in smuggling money from Russia.

Levan Akhobadze was released from the courtroom on bail of 500,000 lari (about 192,000 dollars) by the decision of the Tbilisi City Court, reported Interpressnews on October 1.

The defense petitioned for the release of the arrested Akhobadze on bail, and the prosecution agreed to this proposal. Levan Akhobadze is also prohibited from leaving the country until the verdict is announced. After his release, Akhobadze did not provide comments, the agency writes.

Recall that Levan Akhobadze was detained on May 22 by the Anti-Corruption Agency in connection with the seizure of 40 million rubles (about 1.16 million lari or 431,000 dollars) from a private entrepreneur at the Georgian-Russian border in April 2024. The amount was undeclared, and according to the law, carrying cash over 100,000 lari (about 36,200 dollars) without declaration entails a fine of 10% of that amount or confiscation of the entire sum. The State Security Service believes that Levan Akhobadze contacted the entrepreneur through intermediaries and promised to help in returning the seized money.

As a result of negotiations, the entrepreneur paid a fine of 10% and received back the money seized at customs. After that, according to the State Security Service, Akhobadze demanded 500,000 lari (about 181,000 dollars) for his assistance. According to the testimony of one of the witnesses, after the intervention of the head of the State Security Service Grigol Liluashvili, the demanded amount was reduced to 250,000 lari and handed over to an intermediary, who brought it to Levan Akhobadze the same day.

Grigol Liluashvili was detained by law enforcement in December 2025. He is accused of receiving bribes totaling more than 1.3 million dollars. In September, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Liluashvili to 13 years in prison. The defendant did not admit guilt, and his defense called the charges unproven.