Swiss Response Not Distorted by Investigator: Clarification on Mihran Poghosyan's Criminal Case

Taking into account public interest in the criminal case against former Chief Bailiff of Armenia, Mihran Poghosyan, being investigated by the Special Investigation Service of Armenia, and numerous inquiries directed to the prosecuting authority, particularly in reference to the article published by the 'Jhoghovurd' newspaper on September 27, 2019, the SIS has made an official statement.

On January 23, 2017, a decision was made to terminate the criminal proceedings regarding Mihran Poghosyan. The investigator noted in the decision that a request for investigation had been sent to the Swiss Confederation; however, no evidence was obtained to substantiate the fact of illegal interference in the activities of companies registered in offshore zones by M. Poghosyan.

This conclusion was drawn considering that a letter was received from the Federal Office of Switzerland stating that “unfortunately, they cannot satisfy our request and allow the office to conduct a judicial investigation regarding the specified case, as there are not sufficient conditions to provide legal assistance in the criminal case, which are necessary in Switzerland.”

The investigator did not distort the response received from Switzerland in any way, hence the information published in the 'Jhoghovurd' newspaper is not aligned with reality. Furthermore, the information contained in the publication, stating that a criminal case for money laundering had been initiated against Mihran Poghosyan during the mentioned period at the SIS, is also misinformation.

Only on January 17, 2019, following the emergence of new circumstances leading to the annulment of the decision to terminate the investigation by the Prosecutor General of Armenia, was a sufficient set of evidence secured regarding the legalization of property obtained through criminal means/money laundering.

As previously reported, Mihran Poghosyan has been involved as a defendant under Article 179, Part 3, Clause 1, Article 308, Part 2, and Article 190, Part 3, Clause 1 of the RA Criminal Code. The investigation into the criminal case is ongoing.

At the same time, we urge the media to refrain from disseminating unverified information.