Amiran Rokva
Amiran Rokva | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 7 August 1962 |
| Nationality | Lurjizean |
| Alma mater | Central Amking University |
| Occupation | Businessman, lawyer |
| Known for | Rokva Bank and Trust affair Rokva International Drug trafficking allegations |
| Spouse(s) | Marika Gelovani (m. 2002) |
| Children |
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| Criminal charge | Falsifying tax documents, money laundering |
| Penalty | 5 years under house arrest |
Amiran Rokva (Lurjizean: ამირან როყვა; born 7 August 1962) is a Lurjizean business magnate and philanthropist. After rising to domestic prominence for his role in the Rokva Bank and Trust affair, Rokva was expelled from the aforementioned company's board of directors, he allegedly briefly spent five years under house arrest before founding Rokva International, a Lurjizean hotel brand that later expanded to holding a diverse range of stake in numerous Lurjizean enterprises and sectors. In 2014, the Paluri Free Press, an independent newspaper based in Paleocacher, reported that Rokva had a role in using shell entities to illicit substances such as cocaine into Lurjize, and was conspiring with members of the National Congress to embezzle funds from tourism-related grants given to Rokva International.
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Early life
Amiran Rokva was born on 7 August 1962, in the city of Sopatara, Dzveligza province as the third child of Murtaz and Eteri Rokva. His father, Murtaz, was the founder and CEO of Rokva Bank and Trust, which by the 1960s had grown to be the second most prominent banking enterprise in Lurjize (after the state-sponsored Bank of Lurjize). Rokva was born a few days after an failed assassination attempt on his father. An infant Rokva attended the execution of the perpetrators of the assassination attempts, three members of Banda Tvrameti, on 21 May 1963.
Like his siblings, Rokva attended the Sopatara Immaculate Heart of Mary College, a private Catholic school in Sopatara. However, Rokva was the first of his siblings to pursue his Bachelor's degree abroad, being persuaded by his father to study at Monsilva's Central Amking University. Rokva graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in Business in 1984. On 30 October 1984, his older brother, Erek, was reported missing on a voyage on their father's yacht. Neither Erek's body nor Murtaz's yacht was ever located, though the Paluri Chronicle reported in 1985 that the yacht was seized by TBDNATION pirates.
Early career
In 1986, after an extended stay in Quebecshire, Rokva returned to Lurjize and accepted a consultant role for Rokva Bank and Trust. During this time, Rokva was alleged to be serving as a middleman lobbyist between his father's company and the National Progress Front, the ruling party in Lurjize. Additionally, in March 1987, independent media reported that Rokva attended a dinner with Badri Kasradze, who was serving as minister of finance of Lurjize. Kasradze would later be arrested for alleged ties to Banda Tvrameti during this time period. Between 1987 and 1989, Rokva held an advisory role in Kazbegi law firm, where he is credited with playing a role in the defense of Yuriy Leonidze, who had been arrested overseas on drug trafficking charges. Rokva was named to the Rokva Bank and Trust board of directors in 1992, and was the board's vice chairman from May 1994 to 1997, when he was voted as chairman of the board.
According to numerous former colleagues, Rokva was allegedly known for partying often, with these parties frequently having prostitutes. One incident in 1993 was covered in an unpublished Paluri Chronicle article, in which Rokva was escorted by Paluri police after reportedly causing a public disturbance by drunkenly swearing at passerby and attempting to solicit sex from numerous women. It is believed that a QSC₵100,000 donation from Rokva to the National Progress Front was tied to the suppression of the article from publication. The author associated with the unpublished article was reported missing on 16 September , 1993.
Rokva Bank and Trust affair
Beginning in 1996, Rokva's father Murtaz had begun suffering from onset dementia. Murtaz was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in January 1997 as his condition rapidly deteriorated. Murtaz resigned as Rokva Bank and Trust's CEO in April 1997, and Rokva was voted in by the board as the interim CEO. As such, Rokva's role in the company grew vastly, and while he stepped down as chairman of Rokva Bank's board of directors, he kept his seat on the board. On 8 May 1997, in a phone call with an unidentified colleague, Rokva boasted about "his business" and stated that he couldn't wait for his father to "hurry up and go meet his Creator already." The recording of this call was obtained by the Paluri Free Press in 2014, though Rokva has claimed that the recording was tampered with and 'faked.'
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As such, in this period when it became increasingly clear that Rokva would inherit Rokva Bank and Trust, Rokva also took over dealings with several illicit organizations that his father had organized. This included dealings with Banda Tvrameti, the same criminal organization that had attempted to assassinate Murtaz Rokva thirty years earlier. According to numerous recorded conversations and transcripts released to the National Congress by judicial order, Murtaz had begun setting up dealings with Banda Tvrameti as early as the mid-80s to eliminate undesirable figures. This included Pridoni Bolkvadze, a rival business executive who had reportedly wanted Murtaz eliminated. It is believed that the Lurjizean government knew of these dealings as early as 1989, following the killing of Bolkvadze, but hadn't taken action because the killings were often beneficial to the Lurjizean state. In exchange for the killings, Rokva Bank and Trust would operate bank accounts for Banda Tvrameti (and other affiliated criminal organizations).
However, despite the convenience of these dealings for the Lurjizean government, action would still need to be taken if Rokva's dealings with Banda Tvrameti were to be released, as President Daviti Urushadze was already suffering from low public opinion due to allegations of corruption and affiliation with Surian crime lords. According to transcripts allegedly obtained by the Paluri Free Press in 2001, Urushadze was "eager" for Rokva to make a wrong move, causing his dealings to be leaked and giving Urushadze a chance to appear as a strong anti-gang leader. Urushadze even allegedly contemplated having a source from within Rokva Bank and Trust leak the records of Rokva's dealings, but decided against it because "Murtaz Rokva was a good man."
Furthermore, these dealings also made the Rokvas a target of Banda Tvrameti's rivals, including Banda Akhalidana and their leader, Gualtiero Briones. It is known that Banda Akhalidana had associations with the Paluri Free Press throughout the 90s and early 2000s, and both saw eliminating Rokva as necessary because of his sponsored killings. Gualtiero Brionies' connections within the Paluri Free Press allowed him access to Paleocacher, while he would supply information about rival gangs and their associations with the Lurjizean government to the Free Press.
Rokva Bank and Trust released a statement announcing that Murtaz Rokva had passed away due to complications with his Alzheimer's on January 3, 1999. Shortly after, several members of the National Congress reported that they were contacted by someone claiming to be Avto Okinashvili, a member of the National Congress who had passed away in 1997. The individual offered to fax documents to their offices proving that Rokva was funding Banda Tvrameti to import drugs into the country and kill rivals. While the general consensus is that Rokva was orchestrating the killings, there is no proof that Rokva intentionally funded drug trafficking until after his release from house arrest. In addition to contacting National Congress members, the Avto impostor also contacted the Paluri Chronicle. Due to Avto's loyalty to the National Progress Front during his tenure, several staff at the Chronicle had went forward with publishing an article detailing Rokva's dealings with Banda Tvrameti. The Paluri Chronicle was raided on January 5, 1999 by the Lurjizean Information Authority due to an alleged meeting in which staff claimed to have "met with a man matching the look of Avto Okinashvili as he was alive" to share information about Rokva. It is estimated that 30,000 copies of the Rokva article made their way into circulation, causing sufficient discord among the Lurjizean government to warrant the arrest of Rokva.
On 6 January, Rokva was arrested in Paluri. The same day, he would be expelled from his role in Rokva Bank and Trust, with the company announcing that his cousin, Giuli Rokva, would step up to become the bank's next CEO. On 8 January, the Supreme Court of Lurjize announced that Rokva would be charged with falsifying tax documents and conspiracy to launder money. According to Lurjizean laws, however, Rokva could've been charged with financing terrorist organizations, conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to establish an illegal racket. The charges that were pressed against Rokva only carried a maximum of 10 years of prison each, while financing terrorist organizations and conspiracy to commit murder both carried a possible sentencing to death. The Supreme Court found Rokva guilty on both charges and sentenced him to five years under house arrest on 21 January.
Aftermath
On 7 January, during a televised speech, President Urushadze confirmed that Rokva was arrested, stating that "Rokva, unfortunately, found himself in bed - in an affair - with vermin, rodents from Banda Tvrameti ... the same vermin that are waging war against innocent women and children all across Lurjize, poisoning our water and our way of life with drugs and violence in similar fashion to the Mara in Creeperopolis." Urushadze would use more sympathetic language in later remarks, however - during a 2001 interview, Urushadze said that he "enjoyed his encounters with the Rokva family" but was "incredibly disappointed in the associations that Amiran Rokva had made," believing that "Rokva's funding could've gone into philanthropy to help build up Lurjize, but mistakes were made." Meanwhile, Giuli Rokva, who was sworn in as CEO by February 1999, refused to comment on the matter until 2013, when he said that "I know Amiran, and Amiran never would've gotten himself into anything for any reasons but to do what he thinks is right."
However, despite the arrest and sentencing of Rokva, the Lurjizean Information Authority took a keen interest in regulating the information surrounding the affair. In all major media releases in Lurjize, at the behest of the Information Authority, Rokva's alleged affiliation with Banda Tvrameti was censored. Further articles from the Paluri Chronicle, for example, only mentioned Rokva's criminal affiliations in passing (while never naming Banda Tvrameti), instead focusing on his financial misconduct and tax falsification. This wasn't true for independent media outlets, which decried the Information Authority's censorship of the case and amplified the accusations against Rokva for ordering the killing of rivals.
Rokva began his five years of house arrest on 1 February 1999. During this time period, he was largely out of the public eye, and spent his days watching television, practicing the piano, painting, and writing. According to photographs obtained by the Paluri Free Press, Rokva was kept under constant surveillance by the Lurjizean Army for the first two years of house arrest. Twice a month, Rokvawas escorted out of his home to perform community service work, including roadside trash pickup, planting trees, and serving as a Catholic missionary in the slums of Paluri. In 2002, Rokva had completed a short autobiography titled A Lurjizean Guide to Global Education, which exclusively covered his time at Central Amking University. The autobiography was never published. Additionally, Rokva announced his marriage to Marika Gelovani, a longtime associate of his who had attended many of his parties at Rokva Bank and Trust.
Rokva was released from house arrest on January 30, 2004, after his last act of community service, picking up trash alongside 14 July Avenue.
Rokva International
The day after completing his sentence, on February 1, Rokva announced the creation of Rokva International, a hotel brand and asset holding company. He claimed that Rokva International would "help make Lurjize an attractive destination for foreign tourists . . . and greatly improve the domestic hospitality industry, re-engineering hotels in Lurjize to be state-of-the-art comfort facilities." The announcement was met with much skepticism, though Rokva stated that his venture was fully funded and his flagship hotel would be opening in Paluri in 2005.
By 2010, Rokva International had reported operating 62 domestic locations and 7 international locations, with 6 of these being in Sur. In addition to this, Rokva International held 9 other properties in Lurjize and had a 58% stake in Tsitelisiva, a Lurjizean casino operator owned by Ambrosi Javrishvili, a prominent member of the National Progress Front and former prime minister of Lurjize.
In 2014, the Paluri Free Press reported that Rokva had a role in using shell entities to illicit substances such as cocaine into Lurjize, and was conspiring with members of the national Congress, including Ambrosi Javrishvili, to embezzle funds from tourism-related grants given to Rokva International. Such shell entities included several companies allegedly affiliated with Rokva International, including a garbage company created by Rokva to manage garbage disposal on his properties. No case was brought up against Rokva after these allegations were made, and the National Information Authority once again played a key role in censoring these allegations in Lurjize.
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