TBILISI, October 17 – Georgia’s State Security Service announced Friday that three people have been arrested in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Batumi for allegedly producing fake medical certificates and helping others obtain disability status in exchange for money.
Emzar Gagnidze, head of the service’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, said during a briefing that the suspects, including doctors and their accomplices, had issued fraudulent health documents in return for bribes ranging from 3,000 to 9,500 lari, about USD 1,100 to 3,500.
In one case in Tbilisi, an employee of a medical institution allegedly gave a citizen a false disability certificate for 3,000 lari, claiming the person suffered from bronchial asthma, without any medical examinations or commission review.
In Batumi, another suspect working with local doctors allegedly provided a fake certificate for 9,500 lari that granted a person first-degree disability status based on a fabricated diagnosis of liver disease supposedly caused by hepatitis C.
A third suspect in Kutaisi reportedly arranged for a fraudulent diagnosis of epilepsy in exchange for 3,200 lari. According to investigators, the suspect took the client to several doctors who prepared false neurological reports, including a fabricated computerized electroencephalography document, which was then used to secure disability status.
The State Security Service said the forged medical documents were submitted to Georgia’s Social Service Agency so the recipients could receive pensions and other benefits intended for people with disabilities.
The investigation is being conducted under several articles of Georgia’s Criminal Code, covering commercial bribery, assisting in commercial bribery, and falsification or distribution of official documents. The offenses carry a sentence of four to six years in prison.
Gagnidze said the case illustrates a recurring problem in the country’s health sector, where some medical personnel have been caught issuing fake medical documents for profit. “Such actions not only damage public trust in the state’s anti-corruption system,” he said, “but also harm the reputation of the many honest and professional doctors working in Georgia.”
