Woman Organizes Fundraiser for Wounded Soldiers and Embezzles Part of the Funds

A criminal case related to citizen Araksya Hovhannisyan is currently under the jurisdiction of the Yerevan General Jurisdiction Court, which accuses her of embezzling funds collected for soldiers wounded during the 44-day war in 2020.

This was reported by Tert.am, citing the Judicial Information System. Araksya Arayik Hovhannisyan is charged with visiting various medical centers in Armenia with the initiative to provide financial assistance to soldiers injured as a result of the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh on September 27, 2020. She photographed the injured soldiers receiving inpatient treatment and then posted these photos on her personal pages on Facebook and Instagram, organizing a fundraiser requesting financial support for their treatment and other needs.

Simultaneously, she opened a bank account in the name of her mother, Sonia Hovhannisyan, which she listed on the aforementioned sites, urging benefactors to send donations to that account through corresponding posts and live broadcasts.

Furthermore, she learned that Nina Achemian, residing in Russia, was also conducting fundraising to provide financial assistance to the wounded soldiers and, taking advantage of this trust, embezzled part of those funds.

She has been charged with false denunciation and embezzlement, with pre-trial detention chosen as a measure of restraint.