Arrest Warrants Issued for Fugitive Oligarchs Mikael Minasyan
A court in Yerevan approved on Wednesday an arrest warrant
against Mikael Minasyan, former President Serzh Sarkisian’s fugitive son-in-law
prosecuted on corruption charges which he rejects as politically motivated.
Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC) brought the
accusations of illegal enrichment, false asset disclosure and money laundering
in March and revealed them one month later. It also moved to arrest Minasyan
late last month.
Mikael Minasyan apparently left Armenia shortly after he was
dismissed as the country’s ambassador to the Vatican in late 2018. He declined
to reveal his current whereabouts in two video messages posted on Facebook in
recent days.
“I would suggest that Mikael Minasyan frequently release
such videos,” said Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan. “I’m sure that we too
get some information from those videos.”
Another senior official, deputy parliament speaker Alen
Simonyan, said Minasyan thus effectively admitted having “liabilities towards
the Republic of Armenia.”
Minasyan, 42, enjoyed considerable political and economic
influence in the country when it was ruled by his father-in-law from 2008-2018.
He is also thought to have developed extensive business interests in various
sectors of the Armenian economy.
Meanwhile, another court in Yerevan allowed law-enforcement
bodies on Sunday to arrest Gurgen Khachatrian a wealthy businessman and son of
Armenia’s arrested former Finance Minister Gagik Khachatryan. Khachatrian was not immediately arrested and
his whereabouts remained unknown as of Monday evening.
The Khachatryan family has extensive business interests. The
most important of its assets is Ucom, one of the country’s three mobile phone
operators and largest Internet and cable TV provider.
The ex-minister’s two sons and a nephew own a combined 77
percent of the Ucom stock. Gurgen Khachatryan is also the chairman of the
company’s board of directors.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said through a spokeswoman
that Khachatryan and his relatives must return hundreds of millions dollars
stolen from the people. She said relevant authorities will allow the
Khachatryans to sell their Ucom stake only if they agree to transfer all
proceeds from such a deal to the government.
Late last month authorities arrested Sedrak Arustamyan, the
top manager of companies belonging to another wealthy businessman, Gagik
Tsarukyan.
The NSS claims that Arustamyan had paid Gagik Khachatryan a
$22.4 million bribe to ensure privileged treatment of those companies by tax
authorities. It says that the payment took the form of two bogus loans provided
to the former minister who was arrested on corruption charges last August.
The NSS also summoned Gurgen Khachatryan’s wife and mother
for questioning. Both women reportedly refused to testify as witnesses.
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