Bank Employee Embezzled Depositor's Funds, Faked Resignation and Fled

The investigation into a case of embezzling substantial amounts of money from a deposit holder, which was initiated in October 2015, has concluded at the Vagharshapat Investigation Department of the Armavir Regional Investigation Office of the RA Investigative Committee.

The investigation was separated from a criminal case, within which a financial advisor from one of the banks operating in Armenia was involved as a suspect. A search warrant was issued for the suspect, and in February 2016, the proceedings were suspended due to the suspect's unknown whereabouts and evasion from investigation.

As a result of necessary investigative actions and extensive operational-search and operational-investigative measures, the suspect was located in 2021, presented to the prosecuting authority, and the criminal proceedings were resumed.

The investigation gathered evidence proving that a resident of Ejmiadzin, who worked as a financial advisor at one of the bank's branches from 2013 to 2015, fraudulently embezzled money deposited by a fellow citizen at the bank.

Specifically, the depositor invested 50,000 euros in the mentioned branch for one year in September 2010 but left the country and did not return to the bank in September 2011. Taking advantage of this situation, the bank employee decided to embezzle the depositor's funds.

Recognizing that he could not achieve his goals alone, he coordinated with unspecified individuals and devised a scheme to fraudulently steal the mentioned deposit. Thus, during the depositor's absence, he renewed the deposit agreement, and after failing to extend the deposit on the scheduled date in September 2014, he only partially settled the deposit. He transferred 29,588.99 euros to the customer’s card account and the remaining 30,000 euros to the customer’s foreign currency account.

Subsequently, he submitted a false application on behalf of the customer, requesting a reissue of the bank card, thereby gaining access to and managing it, and shortly after, in March 2015, before the contract's expiration, he terminated the deposit and transferred the funds to the customer's card account. He then withdrew and embezzled a total of 63,874 euros from various ATMs operating in Armenia under the pretext of attending to a relative's medical issues, and subsequently fled the country.

Based on the gathered sufficient evidence, the bank employee has been charged under the previous RA Criminal Code, Article 178, Part 3, Point 1, and Article 325, Part 1. The court has granted a motion to confirm the previously selected preventive measure of detention against him. The case has been separated for individual proceedings, and an announcement regarding the completion of the preliminary investigation has been made, with the criminal case now sent to court with an accusatory conclusion.

The investigation into the other individuals involved in this large-scale embezzlement continues.