Director of the Youth Foundation Accused of Embezzling Approximately 326 Million AMD

The director of the “Youth Foundation of Armenia” has been charged with large-scale money laundering and embezzlement in connection with a criminal case being investigated by the Yerevan investigative department of the RA Investigative Committee. This was reported by the Information and Public Relations Department of the RA Investigative Committee.

Earlier, it was reported that on May 25, 2018, the Investigative Committee of Armenia received a complaint from Karen Avagyan, a member of the board of trustees of the “Youth Foundation of Armenia” and a member of parliament, stating that on April 6, the executive director of the Youth Foundation signed a loan agreement for 326 million AMD with himself.

During the pre-investigation, it was established that the executive director, who has served as the director since 2010, embezzled funds entrusted to him from the foundation from April 29, 2013, to May 22, 2018, in a particularly large amount.

In an effort to conceal and distort the criminal origin of the embezzled large sums, he legalized the funds by transferring them in parts to interconnected companies and individuals' bank accounts, converting them to cash, and conducting various transactions.

Specifically, from April 29, 2013, to May 22, 2018, in order to conceal the criminal origin of the 325.6 million AMD unlawfully acquired through embezzlement, he used developed criminal mechanisms and schemes to legalize the particularly large amount of 226,464,209 AMD by transferring, concealing, and fragmenting it from account to account. Notably, during this period, the executive director transferred this amount in cash to bank accounts registered in his mother's name.

Subsequently, from May 15, 2013, to December 29, 2016, a total of $539,332 was transferred from his mother’s account to various accounts in banks operating in Great Britain. Following that, from May 14, 2013, to December 30, 2016, $490,583 was transferred from the British accounts to his wife’s account, after which $477,485 was transferred from his wife’s account to his account in Armenia, which he then used for personal needs through cash withdrawals and bank transfers.

The investigator has submitted a petition to the court to impose a detention measure against him.

The investigation is ongoing.