Charges Laid Against Multi Group Director and Five Others

The investigation into the apparent abuses during the development and implementation of the "North-South Road Corridor" project continues at the Main Investigation Department of the RA Investigative Committee. Within the framework of the preliminary investigation, substantial investigative and procedural actions were carried out in cooperation with the RA Prosecutor General’s Office, leading to the collection of evidence regarding cases of fraudulent business activities and evasion of taxes in significant amounts during the execution of the project.

Specifically, it has been established that Sedrak Arustamyan, the director of the "Multi Group" consortium, effectively managing the operations of "Stons" LLC, owned 100% of the shares of "Stons" LLC from June 10 to August 8, 2016. In collaboration with Suren Avagyan and Gurgen Sargsyan, coordinating the operations of the company, an agreement was reached with representatives of "Sinohydro Corporation" LLC's Armenian branch to withdraw financial resources without providing services through the issuance of invoices, thereby facilitating significant tax evasion.

On June 8, 2016, with the assistance of Suren Avagyan and Gurgen Sargsyan, Sedrak Arustamyan organized the signing of two agreements regarding the provision of consulting services between "Stons" LLC and "Sinohydro Corporation" LLC within the framework of construction works in the Talin-Lanjik and Lanjik-Gyumri sections.

As a pretext for partially fulfilling the obligations under these contracts, they established the companies "EM-ES Consulting" and "Gevorgyan Consulting" on October 10 and November 11, 2016, respectively, which did not conduct business activities. During the same period, they purported to provide consulting services to "Stons" LLC and issued a total of 44 fictitious tax invoices amounting to 177,000,000 AMD for services allegedly rendered.

These invoices served as the basis for "Stons" LLC to issue invoices to the Armenian branch of "Sinohydro Corporation" LLC for consulting services, resulting in the unlawful transfer of 1,167,409,328.31 AMD and the malicious evasion of tax obligations, inflicting significant financial damage to the state.

As a result of the investigation, sufficient evidence was gathered, leading to the prosecution of Sedrak Arustamyan, Suren Avagyan, Gurgen Sargsyan, and the chief accountant of "Stons" LLC, among others, under the RA Criminal Code for committing crimes including serious fraud and tax evasion. Requests have been submitted to the court to impose detention as a measure of restraint against Arustamyan and his associates.

The investigation continues as extensive investigative and procedural actions are underway to uncover all circumstances related to the abuses committed during the project execution and to ensure accountability for all involved individuals. As of today, 15 individuals have the status of defendants in this criminal case.