Thieves Stealing Car License Plates and Extorting Money from Owners: Police's Disclosure

Recently, numerous reports have been received regarding the theft of car license plates in the territorial subdivisions of the police in Yerevan. This was reported by the police's information service, noting that over 20 such incidents have been recorded in the Nor Nork administrative district alone. These are not ordinary thefts; the criminals' aim was not merely to take the license plates but to pursue a more elaborate scheme.

The thieves demanded money from the vehicle owners in exchange for the return of expensive license plates. Here’s how it worked: after stealing the plates, they affixed a note to the car windows saying, “Write to this viberen, we’ll provide an account number, you send money, we’ll leave the number in place, you can pick it up.” Furthermore, they left foreign phone numbers on the note. Some owners contacted that number, received the account details, transferred the requested money, and learned where their car license plates were hidden.

In response to these incidents, the police's territorial subdivisions have opened criminal cases related to extortion and transferred them to the territorial investigative departments. Within the framework of the preliminary investigation, police officers have undertaken various operational and investigative measures.

The efforts to uncover the crimes were successfully resolved by the Nor Nork police. They identified the suspects through operational means. Officers from the Main Directorate of Criminal Police and the criminal investigation department of Yerevan joined the efforts to locate the suspects. Thanks to their joint work, on June 4, the suspects were found and apprehended in the Armavir region, and taken to the Nor Nork police station.

Two young men aged 22 and 24 residing in Yerevan were presented to the territorial investigative department and arrested. The operational and investigative measures continue within the framework of the initiated criminal cases to clarify the circumstances of the events.

Note: The alleged suspect or accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty according to the procedure established by the RA Criminal Procedure Code by the court's decision that has entered into legal force.