Residents of Erebuni Fraudulently Acquired 7.8 Million Drams by Pawning Non-Original Phones

The investigative department of the Special Cases of the RA Investigative Committee has concluded the preliminary investigation against the last suspect involved in a case of large-scale fraud.

During the investigation, it was established that several residents of the Erebuni administrative district, with the intent to commit theft of various property through fraud, pawned more than 100 mobile phones of various models produced by unofficial manufacturers at a pawnshop in different periods since 2016, presenting them as being produced by an official manufacturer. In return, they fraudulently obtained a significant amount totaling 7,845,000 Armenian drams.

Criminal cases have been initiated regarding these events and merged into one proceeding, with the preliminary investigation carried out by the Special Cases Investigation Department of the RA Investigative Committee. As a result of extensive investigative and other procedural actions conducted during the pre-trial process, the network and identity of the individuals who committed theft of varying degrees of property through fraud were established.

With the combination of sufficient evidence obtained during the investigation, four individuals were previously charged for fraudulently stealing significant amounts of money from the pawnshop owner, and that portion of the criminal case was sent to court.

During the preliminary investigation, a decision was made not to pursue criminal prosecution against six individuals based on Article 35, Part 1, Point 4 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code (a criminal case cannot be initiated and criminal prosecution cannot be conducted if there is no complaint from the victim). The latter had compensated the property damage caused to the pawnshop owner.

Additionally, another defendant, a 37-year-old man from Yerevan, was placed on the wanted list. As a result of investigative activities and operational-intelligence measures, he was located and presented to the prosecuting body.

Based on the combination of sufficient evidence, he has been charged under Part 2, Point 2 of Article 178 (Fraud) of the RA Criminal Code, and a non-leave signature was chosen as a precautionary measure while a lien was placed on his property. The preliminary investigation has been concluded, and the criminal case, with an accusatory conclusion, has been sent to court.