Billionaire Snatched! Georgia’s shadow ruler accused in shocking kidnapping plot

Reported by Philip Shishkin

(Summary version featured below. To read full report, go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/opinion/bitcoin-georgia-ivanishvili-bachiashvili.html)

In a tale straight out of a spy movie, George Bachiashvili, a dashing 40-year-old crypto whiz once trusted by Georgia’s most powerful man, was grabbed off the streets of Abu Dhabi, blindfolded, and secretly flown home — all over a jaw-dropping $1 BILLION in Bitcoin! The accused mastermind? None other than Bidzina Ivanishvili, the reclusive billionaire who controls Georgia from a hilltop mansion and is said to run the country like his private kingdom.

Sources close to the case say Bachiashvili thought he was meeting a lawyer at a swanky Abu Dhabi hotel. Instead, a swarm of mysterious men — some in Arab robes, others looking Russian — surrounded him, whisked him into two black cars, and drove off. Hours later, the young tycoon found himself shackled, terrified, and loaded onto a jet with its transponder turned off. The plane? Reportedly a Georgian government jet. The mission? Allegedly to force him to hand over his secret stash of digital gold!

The drama traces back to a bizarre friendship gone bad. Years ago, Ivanishvili met Bachiashvili’s mom — an eye doctor! — and hired her son after hearing he made $10,000 a month. Before long, the pair were making millions together, investing in cutting-edge Bitcoin mining and global startups. But when Bachiashvili struck it rich — holding over 24,000 Bitcoins, now worth a fortune — Ivanishvili allegedly demanded a cut. When Bachiashvili refused, the oligarch’s allies branded him a thief. He was charged, convicted in absentia, and sentenced to 11 years in prison… but he escaped in a Camry trunk!

After fleeing to Dubai, Bachiashvili thought he was safe. But not for long! A mysterious businessman filed a phony debt claim, Emirati officials blocked his flights, and — BOOM! — within weeks, he vanished. Ten days before the abduction, Georgia conveniently pulled its candidate for a U.N. post, helping an Emirati rival win. Coincidence? Insiders say NO WAY. When the plane landed back in Georgia, Bachiashvili was thrown in prison, where goons allegedly beat him bloody after he refused to give up his crypto passwords.

Now, Georgia’s government insists “everything was legal,” but critics call it a “state-sponsored crypto heist.” The once-glamorous Bitcoin investor sits bruised and behind bars, while Ivanishvili continues to rule from the shadows. From glittering Dubai beaches to secret jets and bloody jail cells, this explosive saga has it all — money, betrayal, power, and a digital treasure at the center of it all. The “Billion-Dollar Bitcoin Kidnapping” may just be the wildest true story of the crypto age — and it’s still unfolding!