Georgian passport found among belongings of fugitive Russian oligarch
Author
Front News Georgia
A Georgian passport was found among the belongings of a fugitive Russian oligarch, sparking a significant scandal. During a search of one of the Moscow apartments belonging to former State Duma deputy Magomed Gadzhiev, who fled from prosecution in Russia, investigators stumbled upon a briefcase containing Gadzhiev’s personal items, evidently prepared for an emergency evacuation. His departure appeared so hasty that he left the briefcase behind, which contained the Georgian passport intended for use by the fugitive oligarch in the European Union and the United States. Alongside personal belongings such as toys, smoking paraphernalia, and underwear, other items found included a Ukrainian ID and a document identifying Gadzhiev as a Russian Police Colonel. Additionally, a substantial sum of cash was seized.
A video of the search was posted on a Telegram channel associated with the Russian police.
Who is this individual, Magomed Gadzhiev, masquerading as Georgian? He served as a State Duma deputy for four consecutive terms, during which he notably voted in 2014 for the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea and supported militants in the Donbass. Gadzhiev is known to have personally funded occupation units composed of ethnic Dagestanis who invaded Ukrainian territory on February 24, 2022.
In March 2023, a group of Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputies petitioned the US House of Representatives and the European Commission to impose sanctions on Gadzhiev. He has been under Ukrainian sanctions since May 2018, and his case is currently being handled by the Office of the Prosecutor General and the State Bureau of Investigation.
In Russia, Gadzhiev’s criminal history runs deep. An article published by the Ukrainian news site UNIAN revealed his direct involvement in organizing the murder of a prominent public and religious figure in Dagestan in 2011- Mufti Maksud Sadikov, the rector of the Institute of Theology and International Relations and vice-president of the North Caucasus Center for Islamic Education and Science.
Will the Georgian authorities investigate how this criminal obtained a Georgian passport?
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