Vigen Sargsyan on Buying a House in the USA and Transferring Money from Armenia

The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Taron Chakhoyan, has posted on his Facebook page, stating that former Armenian Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan has "left Armenia and purchased a house in the USA for several million dollars." Political figure Arman Babajanyan, owner of 1in.am, has also published a note confirming that Vigen Sargsyan bought a house in Belmont, Massachusetts, for $2,050,000 this May.

"Vigen Sargsyan and his wife Lusine Galajyan are already living together in the new house located at 48 Amherst Road, Belmont, Massachusetts 02478," Babajanyan wrote.

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia informed InfoPort.am that it is investigating the information published by Arman Babajanyan.

168.am contacted former Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan for clarification regarding the reports of purchasing a house in the USA for millions of dollars. "I have seen that publication. It's not difficult to find information about any individual's property in the USA, as well as data on real estate transactions. This informational field is completely open and transparent. Especially since I have not hidden my transaction under the names of any other individuals or legal entities. I believe that Arman Babajanyan and many of those spreading today's noise know about the details of owning property in the USA and the availability of this information. If not, I can help find detailed information on numerous property owners. Furthermore, I have personally informed the relevant authorities in Armenia of my home address in the USA to allow them to contact me if necessary. Therefore, there can be no "revelation" here from the outset.

Having not been a public servant for almost 5 years, I work in the USA in a company in the information technology sector, and I have a stable income. After living for three years as tenants, my wife and I made the difficult decision to sell our apartment in Yerevan, which we had purchased in 2013, three years before I became Minister of Defense, and to buy a house here for our residence.

I was also very surprised by the more intriguing part of the information, implying some issue of transferring money out of Armenia through some intermediary. That is absolute nonsense. The money from the sale of our apartment was transferred from the buyer’s bank account to my bank account in my name," said the former Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan.