Parallels Drawn Between Russian Businessman Albert Khudoyan's Case and Levon Hayrapetyan's

Last week, Albert Khudoyan, a Russian businessman of Armenian descent and owner of Optima Development, was arrested in Moscow. The court has placed him under house arrest until August 14. The businessman is accused of fraud, embezzling three plots of land from a company, and causing damages amounting to 2 billion rubles. He faces a potential sentence of ten years in prison, reports Rusarminfo.ru.

“The criminal case has been initiated solely as a tool for seizing the businessman’s assets. The main aim of these actions is to exert pressure on the businessman, so that he makes economically disadvantageous decisions and transfers his business,” stated Khudoyan's lawyer, Alexander Karabanov.

He further clarified that the case was initiated at the behest of former State Duma deputy Ildar Samiyev and businessman Sergey Govyadin.

Notably, lawyer Ruben Margaryan, who previously defended the interests of the late businessman Levon Hayrapetyan in court, has drawn parallels between the cases of Hayrapetyan and Khudoyan. “Recently, there was an opportunity to recall Levon Hayrapetyan. My colleague expressed serious concerns that the criminal case against Khudoyan was initiated based on a complaint from a person who is on the wanted list. This did not surprise me at all, as my client Levon Hayrapetyan was convicted in a case where the plaintiff was a senator sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, Izmestev,” Margaryan stated in a conversation with Rusarminfo.ru.