Mr. Ivanishvili has fully reconciled himself with the fact that neither the funds linked to the Credit Suisse case nor the assets held in Julius Baer will ever be made available to him or his family, says Temo Tsikvadze, lawyer for Georgian Dream’s Honorary Chairman.
In a statement published on social media, Tsikvadze noted that Ivanishvili was not even aware that the final ruling in the long-running Bermuda dispute would be issued on November 24 and found out about it from public sources.
“For several days now, opposition representatives and certain media outlets have been spreading speculation about the London court hearing. On November 24, the third and final instance in the Bermuda case will announce its decision on Mr. Ivanishvili’s lawsuit—a dispute we have already won in all previous stages.
We had no intention of issuing any statement, regardless of the outcome. However, since politicians have turned the subject into a tool of political manipulation, we decided to briefly remind the public of the unprecedented financial racketeering committed against Bidzina Ivanishvili—a textbook example of using financial leverage for political persecution.
The actions of foreign special services—the so-called ‘deep state’—began back in 2008, when the then-government rigged elections and seized power, prompting Mr. Ivanishvili to distance himself from them. This decision was unacceptable to the government’s external patrons, who then targeted his Swiss bank accounts. Through a recruited personal banker at Credit Suisse, Patrice Lescaudron, his assets were looted—years later, Lescaudron was found hanged in a forest, the case classified as suicide. The persecution reached a point where the prestige of the Swiss banking system was damaged, and Credit Suisse itself ultimately collapsed.
Despite the simplicity of the case—one person’s deliberate scheme of theft—we have spent over ten years in court. We won in Singapore, prevailed in two instances in Bermuda, and now await the highest court’s decision.
Meanwhile, political persecution has grown absurdly intense, culminating in the previous U.S. administration sanctioning Mr. Ivanishvili under the pretext of ‘Russian interests’. No one ever explained what these supposed interests were. The sanction was imposed precisely on the funds involved in the case to be decided on November 24—one of only two major assets Mr. Ivanishvili holds abroad. The message was clear: ‘Even if you win in court, we will decide whether you get your assets back.’
The second case concerns the Julius Baer bank, where, despite sanctions having no connection to these funds, Mr. Ivanishvili’s assets—along with the accounts of his wife and children—were frozen without explanation. Where formal grounds were lacking, crude pressure was applied.
This is a brief summary of years of persecution, blackmail, and asset seizure against a man who placed Georgia’s national interests above the demands of foreign special services. Even former U.S. President Donald Trump openly states that the previous administration was run by informal power brokers—the same forces responsible for the sanctions on Mr. Ivanishvili.
As for the opposition’s joy over the upcoming London ruling or speculation about new British sanctions, Mr. Ivanishvili is fully aware that, regardless of the court’s decision, these funds will not be returned.
We affirm with full responsibility that we did not even know the date of the ruling until it appeared in the media. Mr. Ivanishvili has long accepted that none of the frozen funds—neither those connected to Credit Suisse nor those in Julius Baer—will ever be released. He no longer even communicates with the Swiss bank over its unlawful actions.
Yet even without these assets, Mr. Ivanishvili and his family continue to safeguard Georgia’s peace and economic stability, while carrying out charitable activities,” Tsikvadze said.
