Two security firms with links to business tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili have been involved in an attempt to set up “an illegal armed group,” Nika Gvaramia, the deputy chief prosecutor, said on November 16.

He said Giorgi Beridze, chief of both firms - International Guard Organization and League for Professional Guard – was arrested on November 13. “A large number of weapons has been seized from his apartment,” Gvaramia said.

Gvaramia said that Beridze instructed one of his employees, Zurab Metreveli, to recruit “experienced” people, mainly ex-security service officers, for “an illegal armed group.”

The plan was coordinated, Gvaramia said, by Sasha Maisuradze, who is in charge of Patarkatsishvili’s security and is “a staff member of Imedi TV, employed as a consultant.”

Gvaramia also confirmed that Metreveli had also been arrested.